Photo: Getty Images
Seven-time Olympic champion Allyson Felix announced her plans to retire after the 2022 season. Felix currently holds the title of being the most decorated track and field athlete in American history.
In her groundbreaking career, she's won 11 Olympic medals, seven of which are gold, and earned 13 World Championship titles.
The announcement came on Wednesday (April 13) via Instagram where the track star penned a heartfelt message to her fans and supporters.
"As a little girl they called chicken legs, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I’d have a career like this. I have so much gratitude for this sport that has changed my life. I have given everything I have to running and for the first time I’m not sure if I have anything left to give," the post reads.
"I want to say goodbye and thank you to the sport and people who have helped shape me the only way I know how—with one last run," she continues, adding that this season, she's "running for women, I’m running for a better future for my daughter. I’m running for you."
Felix, 36, started as a 200-meter athlete, winning silver at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The following year, she made history as the youngest ever world champion in the event, at just age 19.
At the 2008 Beijing Games, she led the USA Women's Track team to gold in the 4x400 meter team relay. Most recently, she won her seventh gold medal in the Tokyo Games in the 4x400 meter event.
Outside of track, Felix has used her platform to help raise awareness about Black maternal mortality, testifying before Congress, and penning an op-ed in the New York Times describing the penalties her sponsor, Nike, imposed on her and other pregnant athletes. Soon after, Felix signed with Athleta and Nike expanded protections to include pregnant people.
Less than a year after giving birth in 2018, Felix went on to win gold in two world championship competitions, surpassing Usain Bolt's record for most world championships won by any track and field athlete.
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