Allyson Felix might be done on the track, but she’s still in a major life and death race off of it.
Felix, the most decorated track and field athlete in Olympic history with 11 medals (7 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze) from 5 Olympic Games (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020), dedicated her life to track and now is dedicating her time and effort to maternal health care, especially for Black women.
Her mission started after experiencing preeclampsia, a life-threatening pregnancy condition, when she was 32 weeks pregnant in 2018. She had to have an emergency C-section and her daughter, Camryn, born prematurely at 3 lbs, 7 ounces, had to spend a month in a neonatal ICU.
A year later, she and other pregnant sportswomen took Nike to task for claiming that the brand punished them for their decision to have a family. With Felix leading the way, they escalated their fight all the way to Congress to bring attention and resources to the issue of maternal health.
She eventually parted ways with Nike, signed with Athleta and raised money to create a $200,000 fund that covered childcare costs for athletes who competed in the 2021 Summer Games, each selected athlete receiving $10,000.
Later that year, she and her brother founded community-focused lifestyle brand Saysh, “a lifestyle sneaker designed for and by women.”
The company pays special attention to maternal health care through its maternity returns policy. When a woman becomes pregnant, her foot size can increase. Realizing this, Saysh allows customers to contact the brand and they will send them a “fresh pair of Saysh One sneakers in your new size” free of charge.
Now that we’re in an Olympic year, Felix is again focusing on athletes competing in the Games.
Partnering with Pampers, Felix will launch, per NBC Olympics, the “first-ever nursery at the Olympic Village.”
It will open at the heart of the Athletes’ Village Plaza and will offer safe spaces for Olympic mothers to care for their children while competing.
“It was top of mind to support athletes who are mothers,” Felix told NBC Olympics. “It’s a space where families can get away from it all and have some of the comforts of home. They can have playtime and have places to feed their babies.”
Now Olympic moms will be able to have their children with them as they compete for their country.
“It’s childcare,” said Felix, who recently joined the Athletes’ Commission at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to become a voice for athlete moms. “It’s here so that mothers and families feel supported. Having some normalcy is great, just to have an actual space dedicated for this.”
But that’s not all Felix is doing to help.
She’s also partnering with Pampers to help families with premature births. By purchasing the diapers at Walmart, the company will donate up to one million diapers to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Felix also recently received a $20 million grant from the Melinda French Gates Foundation to support Black maternal health.
As Dr. Letisha Brown noted in this story, “The maternal mortality rate for Black women in 2021 was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, nearly three times (2.6) the rate for white women, with rates increasing with maternal age.”
It’s an issue that’s affected Black sportswomen, including Serena Williams, who almost died giving birth to her daughter in 2017; and Felix’s Olympic teammate, Tori Bowie, who died alone last year after suffering pregnancy complications.
Felix is no longer a competitive sprinter, but the race she’s running right now for maternal health is the most important one in her life.
