"It does change you, but it doesn’t end you" - Allyson Felix weighs in on the transformation that she experienced while embracing motherhood
Allyson Felix recently highlighted her experience as a mother which profoundly influenced her life. In addition to her multiple Olympic and World Championships medals, Felix achieved a notable feat of breaking Usain Bolt's record for the most track and field Championships titles, a lesser-known but equally significant milestone.
Although the American athlete hung up her spikes in 2022, she continues to advocate for female athletes. Felix fervently voiced her dissent against Nike's motherhood policy, which refused to provide her with income assurance during her pregnancy. She now uses her platform to raise awareness about female athletes and the disparity they face.
Along with advocacy efforts, Felix embraces her role as a mother to two kids. She and her husband Kenneth Ferguson welcomed their first child Camryn, a girl, in 2019. Five years later, the couple was blessed with their second child, a baby boy named Kenneth Maurice Ferguson III, on April 10, 2024.
In a recent interview with Glamour, Felix highlighted that motherhood transforms a female, stating it ultimately leads to a richer, evolved version of oneself.
“Motherhood does change you. But it doesn’t end you,” she says. “You become a new version of yourself. And I think a lot of times we’re scared to lose ourselves. But the evolution of the self is very beautiful.”
"I don’t know if it’s making a difference at all" - Allyson Felix expresses her concern over the impact of her advocacy work
In 2019, Allyson Felix testified before a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on racial disparities in maternal mortality rates. Two years later, she partnered with the Women’s Sports Foundation and Athleta to provide childcare grants to female athletes with children competing in the Tokyo Olympics.
In the same interview, she expressed her concern, stating if her advocacy work makes a difference and wondering if anyone cares.
“Sometimes it feels like, Does anybody else care about these issues?” Felix says. “When you’re in it, you’re like, Am I doing anything? I feel like I’m trying really hard but I don’t know if it’s making a difference at all. And then this huge thing happens where it’s like, ‘Absolutely, and I’m going to help you.’”
At the 2024 Olympic Games in the French capital, the legendary American sprinter unveiled the first Olympic nursery, which provided childcare facilities to competing female athletes.