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Allyson Felix highlights the challenges female athletes face balancing marriage, motherhood, and career.
Seven-time Olympic champion Allyson Felix opened up about how female athletes go through a ton of challenges when it comes to making decisions about marriage and having children.
She admitted that it was almost always taboo to speak about such milestones, especially during seasons when there were many events.
Felix revealed that in 2018 when she was making the huge step to get married to her partner, Kenneth Ferguson, she had a lot of questions bothering her. After marriage, the next step would be to have a family and Felix was unsure about that.
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19:13 - 12.12.2024
'I was embarrassed to show my face' - American sprint legend Allyson Felix reveals the sorrow of missing gold in 2008
Allyson Felix has revealed the emotional turmoil of winning silver in the 2008 Olympics, feeling devastated and letting others down.
“It was kind of an unspoken thing among Olympic athletes, especially in track and field, that if you’re going to have a baby or get married or anything major, it needs to happen in what is known as an ‘off’ year when there are no imminent competitions. That’s seen as your opportunity,” she told Guardian Sport.
The 14-time world champion further noted that she knew making that decision would change a lot but never expected the move from her then-sponsor, Nike.
Allyson Felix revealed that she had witnessed a lot of women suffer when they had families and having accomplished a lot then, she thought her case would be different.
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At the time, Felix had been sponsored by Nike until November 2017 and she decided to negotiate continuity but the giant brand came back with a 70% pay cut. This was before she even knew she was pregnant and when she learnt about that, she asked if they would not cut her pay cheque but they refused.
“I always felt like, well, maybe if I accomplish enough, then that won’t be my experience. I think that’s really what pushed me to wait till the latter points of my career. But in the end, I ended up in the same fight,” she revealed.
“It went downhill from there. I think this amplified my fear, because I had seen teammates really struggle through motherhood and not be supported, and that to me was devastating."
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15:58 - 16.12.2024
'No need to snub the media'- Jamaican legend on what Shericka Jackson, Kishane Thompson & Co are missing out on
The four-time world silver medallist urged the Jamaican athletes to avail themselves for media interviews, detailing what they are losing.
This motivated her to start an initiative for women so she started her own footwear company, Saysh and that’s among the many things that have been keeping her busy after retirement. She also has two kids, Camryn and Kenneth Maurice Ferguson.
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