Track and Field legend Allyson Felix is plotting a comeback to the sport she dominated, and she’s aiming to do it in her hometown at the 2028 LA Olympics.
Felix first broke the news in an interview with Time Magazine.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime homecoming,” wrote Felix in a pitch to her brother about the comeback. “And it is the only thing powerful enough to pull me back.”
With 11 Olympic medals (7 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze), Felix is the most decorated female track and field athlete in Olympic history, the sport’s most decorated athlete in U.S. history and tied for fifth as the most decorated Olympic athlete in U.S. history, so her credentials are unquestionable and her place is cemented in history.
Yet at 40, and turning 42 when the Games head to LA in 2028, age is something that competes with no one.
But Felix had inspirations to look to, including LeBron James, Tom Brady and Lindsey Vonn.
“So many of us have been told not to do the big, bold thing,” Felix old TIME in their interview. “You know, at this age, I should probably be staying home and taking care of my kids, doing all that. And just, why not? Let’s flip it on its head. Let’s go after the thing. Let’s be vulnerable.”
Felix last competed in 2022 at the World Championships, where she took gold in the women’s 4x400m and bronze in the mixed 4x400m
For those who know track, especially those who have/are competed/competing, you know the 400m is one of, if not the most, grueling, painful and mentally challenging events in all of sports for there is no rest and no teammate to pick up any slack.
It’s just you and a full quarter mile at full speed, and all under 49 seconds if you want to compete at the Olympics with athletes like Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Felix isn’t doing this for headlines or some quick money, especially as track isn’t a big money sport.
She already owns her own company, Saysh, for which she secured $8 million in capital in 2022, and she’s both a mother an an advocate for maternal healthcare, so her time is limited.
Instead, she see this as a challenge she wants to make one more attempt at taking on.
She will start competing in 2027, targeting races that will help her qualify for the Games.
And if she makes it, she’ll walk proudly in front of her hometown friends and family once again as a member of Team USA.
