At 40, Allyson Felix is no longer lining up for races, but her most significant work may have begun after she left the track. Felix, born November 18, 1985, in Los Angeles, qualified for her first Olympic Games at just 18. Over nearly two decades, she competed at five Olympics and collected 11 medals, including seven golds, making her the most decorated female track and field athlete in Olympic history. In 2018, during her pregnancy with her first child, Camryn, Felix developed severe preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition.
Her daughter was delivered by emergency cesarean section at 32 weeks and spent her first month in the neonatal intensive care unit, weighing just 3 pounds 7 ounces. After the experience, Felix returned to competition and publicly challenged how women athletes were treated around pregnancy and motherhood. Her criticism helped push Nike to change its maternity-related policies for athletes. Many assumed Felix was finished at 35.
Instead, she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, where she won bronze in the individual 400 meters and gold in the women’s 4 x 400 meter relay, bringing her Olympic total to 11 medals. In 2022, she retired from competitive track and field. Her final World Championships appearance in Eugene, Oregon, included a bronze in the mixed 4 x 400 meter relay and gold in the women’s 4 x 400 meter relay. Since retiring, Felix has continued her work in sports leadership, business, maternal health, and gender equity.
In 2024, she was elected to the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission, and in 2025, she was inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame. Felix, now raising her daughter, has said her value is no longer measured in medals or times. Her story is not about when she stopped running, but about what she built after she did.
