Allyson Felix’s end of career: She leaves deep footprints – Sport

So there it was: one of those rare moments where you have to be very hardened if it didn’t raise a hair or two on the back of your neck.

When Allyson Felix took over the baton in the final of the 4x400m mixed relay, not many were left at Hayward Field and the scream of the nearly 15,000 must have caused the stadium’s new, stylish wooden roof trusses to vibrate a bit. It was fitting that the loudest cheers on the first day of the World Cup in Eugene rained down on Felix – even if that was due to the blemish that first Felix and then final runner Kennedy Simon still gave up their comfortable leads. Third place for the US relay, behind the Dominican Republic and the Netherlands, didn’t tear many people off their seats. For a while, you could feel the weight of disappointment weighing on Felix’s smile, too, but that was all over when daughter Camryn pushed her way in front of the cameras (and Felix) as if to say, Now mom’s after me the last race of her career.

So the last shimmering stone fell in the mosaic of a career that spanned over 20 years, five summer games, ten outdoor world championships, refined by 30 medals (20 of them gold) at these two largest sporting performance fairs. No track and field athlete has ever done that, across genders. “It was an incredible journey,” Felix had said before her last appearance, and the only question now was what was actually so incredible: the naked successes – or that they were something even bigger in the last three years on this journey were pushed into the shadows. “When I look back on that time,” said the 26-year-old, “I can’t believe I got through it.”

For years she had gone about her medal collection duties, reliable, unassuming, with a gentle smile behind which she hid her keen ambition (“I really hate to lose,” she once said). Even when she quietly rose to become a three-time Olympic champion in London in 2012, over 200 meters and with the relays, she seemed relieved, never ecstatic, that didn’t suit her. Felix studied elementary school education, led children’s services; In any case, it was not difficult for the American federation to praise these athletes, who, like a straight-A student, always managed to do what they seemed to expect of themselves anyway.

Her springy, short foot strike brought her everywhere quickly, first over 200, finally also over the consuming 400 meters, and so gracefully one quickly runs away from the doubts that also stuck to US athletics at Felix’ heyday (her trainer Bob Kersee used to mentor fable record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner, deep in the anabolic steroids era.)

Then, three years ago, Felix learned what a real low is.

In the 32nd week of pregnancy, the doctors diagnosed preeclampsia, a severe form of toxemia caused by pregnancy. Her daughter’s life was in danger, as was her own. Little Camryn, barely five pounds, survived an emergency c-section, spending many weeks in intensive care. Shortly thereafter, Felix was thrown into the next trauma. Nike, her outfitter, one of the most influential sporting goods manufacturers in athletics, informed her that her contract would be reduced by 70 percent: because of the pregnancy. If you understand Felix correctly today, what she did then made her no less afraid than she had been during her pregnancy: she decided to fight back, publicly.

Felix’s post in the New York Times sparked outrage

Felix was by no means the first mother athlete to suffer from the unfair practice: US athletes in particular are largely financed by their sponsors. After they practice in the New York Times But the outcry was more massive than usual. What kind of industry is this that celebrates athletes’ rights in commercials and at the same time secretly puts such shackles on athletes? Felix left Nike for Athleta, a young brand. And this time it wasn’t just a rescue operation. The wave that Felix unleashed was so great that Nike and other companies soon added maternity protection clauses to their contracts.

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Since then, Felix’ has been fighting for women’s rights, with the same gentle yet fierce ambition that she has always poured into her sport. She testified in the US Congress about inequalities in the American health care system. (Black women are about three times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women, according to statistics.) She started her own outfitter brand, making shoes specifically for women’s feet. In 2021 in Tokyo she won gold (in the 4×400 meter relay) and bronze (over 400 meters) in these shoes. She campaigned with bad riders like Christian Taylor at the US Athletics Association – successfully – for the fact that the association has been offering childcare at meetings since this summer. (“Travelling to championships with a 10-month-old daughter opened my eyes,” said Felix.) And she wanted, she said last time – for once seasoned with a little pathos – to encourage women in particular to raise their voices – “herself when it trembles with fear”.

There are deep footsteps left by the woman with the light footrest. That was also evident when Felix’ teammates, some 15 years his junior, were asked to talk about how Felix got them into the sport at the US team’s press round in Eugene. After reporting on how they used to hang Felix’s posters in the kids’ room and stuff like that, Noah Lyles, the 2019 200m world champion, spoke up. “It was a person against a corporation,” said the 24- year-old, looking at Felix’ fight with Nike. Whereby Lyles (Adidas sponsored) pronounced the word “corp” as if it were a Klingon battleship. “I think,” Lyles continued, “many people don’t realize how big Nike’s influence is in US sport. As a Black woman, fighting against standing up for your opinions – I think that’s something young people should do as a role model for years to come. “

To round things off, that was perhaps worth more than many a gold or bronze World Cup medal.