Allyson Felix isn’t done yet.
She had just won her 11th medal in track and field, surpassing Carl Lewis, to become the most decorated American track & field athlete in Olympic history when she stepped off the track at Tokyo Games 2021.
Felix, 36, had proven everything there was to prove. Her words could be used to protect pregnant athletes. She could make it back to the Olympic podium, having given birth to Camryn at 32 weeks via emergency cesarean section. She could win those medals in shoes of her own design.
It would have been logical to hang up her spikes in Tokyo after Tokyo and spend the next decade soaking up her accomplishments.
But, this is Allyson Felice.
There was still something left, more to be celebrated, and a few more 400-meter victories to run. In April, she announced her intentions via social media. “I want to say goodbye and thank you to the sport and people who have helped shape me the only way I know how — with one last run,” she wrote.
She will kick off the celebration with the U.S.A. outdoors national championships. If all goes according, the World Championships will follow in July in Oregon. This will be her final season, Bob Kersee, her coach.
Felix made her biggest commitment to the track Wednesday morning. Felix is now an owner and board member at Voice in Sport, an advocacy and mentoring company founded by Stef Strack. Voice in Sport connects young female athletes to mentors who are professionals in sport and experts in mental, nutrition, and sport science.
“We both have tried to make change happen within current systems, some with success and some with failure,” Strack, a former Nike executive, said. “And we connected around this idea that it’s time to create the future that we want to see for our daughters.”
Felix spoke to The New York Times in an interview before her final national championship races. She also discussed how she came to terms with the power of her platform and what kind legacy she hopes it will leave.
This interview has been reduced to a manageable length and edited for clarity.
How did you decide that you would do another season after you won two more Olympic medals at Tokyo Games? How was the decision-making process?
It was actually harder than I thought. I knew it was my final Olympics, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do another season. A lot of people were like, “Oh, it’ll be amazing to end at home, on home soil in Oregon.” And that sounded really cool, but I was exhausted from the prior year and I didn’t know if I had it in me. I had never experienced that feeling before. I wasn’t sure if I just had the fight in me.
But I was talking with my coach, and he was like, “I really think that you should do just like a final tour and just kind of enjoy yourself.”
Is it possible to have fun with it? Can you turn down the competitive drive to look down the line?
I’ve never really slowed down before. I’ve always been so laser focused on the goal, whatever the goal is for that year. And I don’t think I’ve ever really taken the moments to just appreciate and to enjoy — to enjoy the traveling and enjoy the competition for what it is and not having the enjoyment being tied up in whether I win, or I lose. That part is a completely different experience for me. It’s been very tricky. I’m trying to just keep reminding myself to not lose focus of enjoying this moment because this is it.
Off the track, you’ve become a fierce advocate for female athletes and gender equality. But you’ve said it was a journey to get there, to feel comfortable using your voice and your platform. How did it get you started speaking out?
I have never felt content in my life. I was terrified. I had this moment while I was sitting in my daughter’s nursery, we had just got home from the N.I.C.U., and I was going back and forth about speaking out and doing the op-ed.
After having my daughter and going through the whole birth experience, it was almost like I had to do this. Whatever the consequences are going to be, I’m just going to move forward because I deeply believe it’s the right thing to do.
Your New York Times Opinion pieceIn May 2019, a report titled “Maternity protections for new parents are not available” was published. Nike changed its policies in August. Numerous athletic companies have also created new maternity policies. This kind of widespread change was not something you expected.
I was doing the right thing and what I needed to do. I’ve had several moments since, where I’ll be in a race and afterward a person that I’m competing against comes up to me and says thank you and details a story or something. And that just blows my mind because I’m like, wow, I never thought that things would change quickly. I just never thought I would have those moments, even though I was hoping that it would be for the women coming up, I didn’t think that they would be saying anything to me about it.
In the years since, you’ve signed partnerships and deals with a handful of companies, and started your own, Saysh. How do I choose who I work with now?
After all the experience I had with Nike, it was clear to me that I wanted to do meaningful things. I wanted to be thoughtful about everything. At this point, if it doesn’t feel authentic, it’s just not something that I’m interested in doing. It definitely took me a long time and a lot of learning to get to this place, but that’s where I’m at right now.
I know the power of both my platform and my voice and I want it to be used and benefited from. I also want to be accountable for what I say.
One of your biggest new partnerships — and time commitments — was announced this morning, with your ownership of Voice in Sport. How did you decide that you wanted to join the organization in such an important way?
I want our young girls healthier and to have the resources to focus on their mental and nutritional health. As a child, I thought about how excited I would have been if I had such an opportunity. My mom would have been thrilled because I believe a lot parents want to guide their child in the right direction. It can be confusing and difficult. This is going to really change things.
Now more than ever, we’re seeing that young people do want to have an impact and they do want to use their voice and they want to have action. Now, I can see myself being a mentor and a board member with so much more time.
Please tell us about the mentorship you have received throughout your career.
Jackie Joyner Kersee has been my mentor for the majority of my professional career. This has had a profound impact on my life. She is my coach’s wife, and I think she started mentoring me when I was about 19 years old. Obviously I looked up to her from an athletics standpoint, but to get to build a relationship with her and to see that she cared about me — and not just how I was doing on the track but as a person — that just resonated and stayed with me.
She’s seen me evolve, coming from a really shy girl to seeing me in front of Congress. Jackie is always there to help me through every step. Jackie is available 24/7 via phone. I remember when I was going through just all the pregnancy and Nike and all that, I was calling her multiple times and just being like, “I don’t know what’s going on,” and she just always, always was there for me.
She showed me how to do it for someone else.
The word “legacy” is tossed around a lot when someone like you steps off the track. What do you want to leave behind?
I always thought that I would be like, “Oh, these records or this Olympics or that,” and the last couple years have just completely changed that. I hope that it’s one of having tried to change things, having left things better than when I came, and just really having a heart for people.
I think that’s what it boils down to, trying to speak for those whose voice isn’t as loud. That’s what I’m most proud of, that’s what’s most meaningful, and at the end of the day that’s the one thing that matters the most.
Source: NY Times