"From the track to the court"-Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix tries her hands at tennis 2 years after retiring from Track and Field

Allyson Felix, the former US sprinter, turned her attention to tennis after retiring from track and field in 2022. Felix won 31 medals across World Championships and Olympics and etched her name as one of the most successful athletes in track and field history.

Felix's resume includes 11 Olympic medals, of which 7 are gold. The 38-year-old won the 200m gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and bagged the other six Olympic gold medals in either 4x100m or 4x400m relay events. In the World Championships, she won three individual gold medals in the 200m, one in the 400m, and the rest ten in the relay events. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics was Felix's last Olympic stint, where she won the 4x400m relay, breaking her medal tie with Carl Lewis and becoming the most decorated US track athlete in Olympic history.

Two years into retirement, Allyson Felix stays closely connected with sports and continues to work towards the betterment of athletes. In a recent Instagram post, she was seen engaging in her newly found passion, tennis.

"From the track 🏃🏽‍♀️ to the court 🎾⁣ After 20 years on the track, it feels good to try new things. Perhaps a match is in my future?" her caption read.

Donning all-white tennis wear, she combined a couple of serves and forehand shots on a practice court.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 11-time Olympic medalist was elected as a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, the role that would help her 'improve the athlete experience, and ensure athlete perspective is elevated in conversations around the present and future of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement.' (via USOPC, August 8, 2024)

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Allyson Felix built a nursery in the Olympic Village in Paris for athletes to spend quality time with their children

Felix speaks at the Beyond the Podium: How Athleta and Allyson Felix Reinvented the Brand/Athlete Partnership - 2023 SXSW Conference and Festivals - Source: Getty

Having gone through a difficult pregnancy journey and developing pre-eclampsia, Allyson Felix gave birth to her daughter, Camryn Grace, in 2018 in a pre-mature C-section. Following that, she traveled with her daughter to global events, including at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and struggled to juggle mother duties and races.

"I can still remember arriving at the Tokyo games three years ago: having absolutely no idea how I was supposed to be a new mom and an Olympic athlete, and just feeling so alone," she said. (via Olympics.com, July 30, 2024)

In 2024, the 38-year-old decided to build a nursery in partnership with Pampers in the heart of the Olympic Village in Paris. Her goal was to help athletes who were also parents spend time with their babies and stated,

"Athlete parents can spend time with their babies and young children: to bond, nurse, play, and just experience a level of recognition and respect from the athletic community that has been so lacking in the past," she added.

Felix has been a vocal advocate for women in sports and penned an op-ed for The New York Times in 2019, which addressed the matter of Nike not supporting athletes with guaranteed salary protections after childbirth.