Born: 18 November 1985, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
For female athletes, there are several hurdles that even Olympic track stars may struggle to leap. Today, many women are challenging the idea that they can’t compete while pregnant. In 2019, Lizzette Perez finished the Boston Marathon while being eight months pregnant, while Allyson Felix took on Nike the same year for the corporation’s discriminatory policy around sponsorships of pregnant athletes, which threatened to cut the terms of her endorsement by as much as seventy percent. When she protested, they told her to “know your place and just run.” She won, and Nike changed its policy, banning performance-related pay reduction for pregnant athletes, but she dropped them instead and started her own line of running shoes, which she wore at the Tokyo Olympics under the banner “I Know My Place.”
Felix told a conference in 2022 that pregnancy is still considered “the kiss of death” for athletes. She recalled training at 4am while six months pregnant in 2018, afraid that if a fan took a photo of her pregnant, her sponsors would “immediately change their mind” about working with her. She had to have an emergency c-section seven months into her pregnancy due to potentially life-threatening conditions, and her baby had to spend a month in neonatal intensive care—but on top of worrying about her own health and her child’s, she also had to fight for what she was owed. Felix is the most decorated U.S. track and field athlete in history, yet that was not enough for her to be financially secure while pregnant.
And after childbirth, apart from the time, energy, and financial expense of childcare, many athletes must travel for competitions and other events. That’s why Felix launched a childcare initiative, which provided $10,000 grants for childcare expenses needed to enable athletes to train and compete, as well as providing free childcare to athletes, coaches, and staff at the USA Track and Field championships.