Cause for Celebration: Allyson Felix
This week as part of our Cause for Celebration series Presented by PNC we are telling the story of Allyson Felix, the first female track and field athlete to ever win 7 Olympic Gold medals and the most decorated American in history with 11 medals.
Felix and the U.S. women's 4x400 relay team are the definition of consistency, with 4 consecutive gold medals from 2008-2020 and in 2012 Felix helped set the world record in the 4x100 with a time of 40.82
Her story does not stop at the finish line though. Towards the end of her career Felix became pregnant with her first child and at 32 weeks had to have an emergency C-section, almost dying in childbirth. During her pregnancy she felt she didn’t receive adequate care and access to information about her condition, and decided to testify before congress fighting for more support for women of color during pregnancy.
During the same time, her long-time sponsor Nike wanted to renegotiate her contract and cut her earnings by 70%. Felix fought back and called out the shoe giant, demanding expanded payment protections for new mothers.
“I asked Nike to contractually guarantee that I wouldn’t be punished if I didn’t perform at my best in the months surrounding childbirth. I wanted to set a new standard.”
She won and Nike announced a new maternity policy that guaranteed pay and bonuses for 18 months around a pregnancy.
