By: Summer Chu

Recently, US Olympic sprinter, Allyson Felix, announced that she would be retiring at the end of the 2022 season. Many will be sad to see her go, knowing just how much Felix contributed to not only the running community but to the world. She achieved huge milestones in her career, such as winning 11 Olympic medals, but she also was an activist for black mothers and women.

During her career, Felix broke countless records and achieved goals greater than anyone expected. Not only did she win more Olympic medals than any other track and field athlete, but out of her 11 medals, 7 of them are gold. Felix also won more World Championship medals than anyone in history: 19 across five events, 13 of which were gold. For these achievements, Felix certainly should go down in the history books as one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time.

But that’s not all. Felix has also done great work fighting for black women’s maternal rights after giving birth to her daughter Camryn. In November 2018, Felix gave birth eight weeks prematurely after discovering she had pre-eclampsia, a condition that could have ended her and her baby’s lives. It usually occurs midway through a woman’s pregnancy, comes with symptoms of high blood pressure, protein in their urine, swelling, headaches, and blurred vision, and when Felix learned more about this condition, she found that a disproportionate number of black women were affected by it.

In 2019, she spoke to the US Congress, saying, “I learned my story was not so uncommon. There were others like me, just like me, black like me, healthy like me, and doing their best, just like me. And they faced death like me, too. We need to provide women of color with more support during their pregnancies. There’s a level of racial bias within our healthcare system that is troubling and will be difficult to tackle, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t.” Her fight for women of color has helped raise awareness. She has made black women feel less alone and empowered with her words.

Felix’s US teammate Noah Lyles said she was his idol growing up. “For one black woman to speak their mind and speak for what they believe is right, even have the courage to try, is something I feel young people should be watching for years to come,” he said.

While it may be sad to see Felix retire from her career in track, she still has big plans for the future. She is now the owner of Voice in Sport, an advocacy and mentorship company that connects young female athletes with mentors who play professional sports and experts in mental health, nutrition, and sports science. So, it is expected that Felix will continue to do great things for the world.