Allyson Felix: American track legend and seven-time Olympic champion to retire at end of season
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ByEurosport
Updated 14/04/2022 at 11:01 GMT
Allyson Felix picked up her 10th and 11th Olympic medals at Tokyo 2020 which saw her pass Carl Lewis in the US record book for most medals for a track and field athlete. Felix only trails Finland's Paavo Nurmi who won 12 medals between 1920 and 1928. Felix has announced she will retire at the end of the track season, saying she will bow out from the sport "with one last run".
Allyson Felix
Image credit: Getty Images
Allyson Felix, the most decorated female track and field Olympian of all time, will retire at the end of the season.
The American has won 11 Olympic medals in a glittering career, including seven gold, and 13 world titles.
The 36-year-old said she would say goodbye to the sport "with one last run".
"As a little girl they called chicken legs - never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I'd have a career like this," Felix wrote in a post on Instagram.
"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.
"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.
"This season isn't about the time on the clock, it's simply about joy. If you see me on the track this year I hope to share a moment, a memory and my appreciation with you."
She will race at the Penn Relays later this month.
Felix became an advocate for working mothers after giving birth to her daughter Camryn via emergency C-section in 2018. She cut ties around the same time with Nike as she was upset with the way the company treated pregnant athletes.
"This season I'm running for women," Felix added in her post. "I'm running for a better future for my daughter. I'm running for you."
Felix's Olympic triumphs came in the 200m (London 2012), the 4x100m relay (London 2012, Rio 2016) and the 4x400m relay (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 Tokyo 2020). She is also a world champion across 200m, 400m and relays.
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