Allyson Felix takes pride in Naomi Osaka's 2024 comeback inspired by her

Allyson Felix revealed feeling proud and rewarded after Naomi Osaka thanked her for inspiring her comeback in 2024. The American sprinter is one of the leading voices for women's empowerment especially for motherhood-related issues.

Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, took a year-long break from professional tennis in 2023 to devote to her newborn daughter Shai before making a comeback at the Brisbane International 2024.

The former World No.1 was inspired by Felix's 2019 comeback when the sprinter won two gold medals at the World Championships after undergoing a life-threatening C-section delivery and had expressed her gratitude to the American as well. During an appearance on the Spring Hill podcast, Felix revealed:

"I get to talk to these athletes like Naomi Osaka, you know just her appreciation for what I did and getting to see her be back in the peak of her career, knowing it's hard but she can still be her and do all things. I think it's a bigger shift in the culture." [13:00 onwards]

The 39-year-old further added that she felt rewarded after Osaka sent her a text message to express gratitude.

"She thanked me and to me like that's the reward," Allyson Felix added.

The 14-time World Champion's fight for motherhood of women athletes started in 2018 when she was 'disrespected' by Nike, with whom she had been signed since 2000. She was pregnant at the time and along with her pay being reduced by an astonishing 70%, the company refused her request to support maternity protections.

Allyson Felix eventually left the company and signed with the women empowerment-focused Athleta in 2019 before launching her own footwear brand, Saysh in 2021.

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Allyson Felix expresses her pride in Naomi Osaka despite early exit at the 2024 US Open

Olympics: Closing Ceremonies - Allyson Felix in action (Source: Getty)

While Naomi Osaka was far from her best season in 2024, the four-time Grand Slam champion managed to bring her ranking up to World No.58. The 27-year-old endured tough campaigns at all of the 2024 Grand Slam tournaments, and after her second-round exit at the US Open, she penned an interesting note on Instagram.

Osaka claimed to be disappointed in her early exit before her daughter Shai made her realize she 'couldn’t be more proud of herself'.

"Honestly I had typed out a whole caption about how I’m disappointed with myself etc but I’ve been sitting here playing with my daughter and I realized that I couldn’t be more proud of myself. I gave birth to such an amazing human and I played the US Open? A win is a win. Sure it didn’t work out this time but I have faith it will eventually. Thank you NY 🖤 see you next time," she wrote in her Instagram post's caption.

Allyson Felix was in awe of Osaka's changed perspective towards her career following motherhood and said she was proud of the Japanese tennis star.

"It’s the perspective for me. So proud of you!" Felix commented under her post.

Osaka finished with a 22/18 win-loss record in 2024 and after making the changes in her coaching setup, will be vying to expand her Grand Slam titles' cabinet.