- Olympic legend Allyson Felix is the most decorated track and field athlete in US history.
- The iconic sprinter's legacy extended far beyond the track after changing the game for athlete moms.
Allyson Felix is the most successful track and field athlete in US history.
But the 11-time Olympic medalist — who racked up seven golds, three silvers, and a bronze over five Olympic Games — has earned a legacy that extends far beyond the confines of her sport. And now, less than a year since she hung up her spikes for the last time, Felix has earned Sports Illustrated's 2022 Muhammad Ali Legacy Award in honor of her past efforts and continued fight for "a more equal world."
In 2019, after giving birth to her daughter via a complicated and dangerous delivery, the legendary sprinter spoke out about the disparate treatment of and lack of financial protections afforded to expecting mothers in athletics.
In a bombshell op-ed for The New York Times, Felix alleged that Nike offered her a 70% pay cut in a contract proposal negotiated during her pregnancy. And when she asked the brand to "contractually guarantee that I wouldn't be punished if I didn't perform at my best in the months surrounding childbirth," Nike refused to do so.
The revelations created a firestorm and prompted Nike and other major sports apparel companies to shift their policies and offer maternity protections to the women athletes they sponsor. Now, five years later, countless prominent women sports stars — Alex Morgan, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Crystal Dunn, Napheesa Collier, and Julie Ertz, among them — have enjoyed the flexibility of starting families without sacrificing their careers.
"It makes me so excited when I see so many women having children, coming back to sport [and] being supported," Felix told SI's Maggie Mertens. "That's what this has all been about."
Even in retirement, the 37-year-old is focusing her efforts on leveling the playing field in sports and beyond. She's worked with Athleta — her new apparel sponsor following her fallout with Nike — and nonprofit &Mother to provide free childcare at a number of track and field events. She's also growing her footwear and lifestyle company, Saysh, which specifically designs gear to fit women's bodies because "women deserve better" than afterthought status.
"Even beyond the shoes, we need companies that see women and that starts from within," Felix said. "It starts with the culture and all of our team being aligned around that cause — that women should not be overlooked and that we're gonna do better by them."
Her goal now is to help create "a more equal world" for her daughter. She doesn't want Camryn, now 4, to "have any limitations or think about anything twice because she's a girl." And she says each societal setback, like the overturning of Roe v. Wade, "just fires me up more" to exact change.
"Those are all things that continue to push me and to know that there's so much more to do," Felix said, adding: "These are things that we have to get done, and we can't afford to go backwards."
Felix will receive her honor — named for legendary boxer and activist Muhammad Ali — at Thursday's Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Awards at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco.