Sep 15, 2019
Allyson Felix (@allysonfelix) should need no introduction. She is the most decorated track athlete of all-time, male or female, with 26 global championship medals. As a sprinter who focuses on the 200m, 400m, and relay events, she has won 18 gold medals including gold medals at 3 different Olympic Games (2008, 2012, 2016). She has won the Jesse Owens Award given to the top USATF athlete each year a record 5 times. Off the track, Allyson is active in advocating for women and youth sports and serves on the Right to Play Board of Directors.
In this episode, we begin with a quick introduction on her
background in sport and then dive into two topics on which
Allyson's voice is so important: maternity rights and clean
sport.
She discusses how being a mom has motivated her to speak out
on topics such as these. She provides her thoughts on what more can
be done to protect female athletes during and after their
pregnancies. In addition, we talk about the current culture within
sprinting regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs and what
more can be done to create a level playing field. She also gives
her perspective on the Christian Coleman case and why missing a
drug test is such a big deal, including a story about her one and
only missed test while taking an exam at USC.
At the end, we discuss Allyson's new sponsorship deal with
Athleta and what she is doing to try to make another Olympic team
in Toyko 2020.
We want to thank Allyson for her strong and clear perspectives
on these two very important topics and for her willingness to use
her voice. We need more athletes like Allyson who are willing to
speak out.
Check out this link for Allyson's op-ed in the NY times on
maternity rights and her contract dispute with Nike, her former
sponsor: