“It was super isolating and very lonely": When Allyson Felix revealed measures she undertook to prevent losing Nike contract while being pregnant

American retired track athlete Allyson Felix once described how it was a very lonely phase in her life when she had to postpone her pregnancy from the world to not lose her contract with Nike. It was when she was pregnant with her first child Camryn Grace with husband Kenneth Ferguson. The couple have two kids, with their second child and son Kenneth Maurice Ferguson III, born on April 10, 2024.

The seven-time Olympic gold medalist opened up about the difficulties she faced in her first pregnancy in an interview with Time.com in 2021. During contract negotiations in 2017, Nike had mentioned the organization has the right to deduct 70 percent of the amount that the athletes receive.

Owing to this, Allyson Felix and her brother Wes decided to wait for a little longer before revealing her pregnancy to the world with the thought of losing sponsorship in mind.

The most successful female track and field athlete in World Championships history, Felix, however, had to go through a lot of restrictions and problems while keeping her pregnancy a secret. She mentioned in the interview:

"It was super isolating and very lonely. I think about that a lot. All of those things that you look forward to, those experiences of embracing that time, I didn’t get to do any of that. I don’t feel like I ever really was pregnant."

Some of the other measures that Allyson Felix took were training before sunrise, and donning baggy outfits to hide her pregnancy. Felix faced more challenges when her doctor told her that she was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a condition that many Black women face while pregnant. As a result, her daughter needed to be delivered prematurely through the C-section.

Despite going through all the aforementioned personal and professional difficulties, she achieved a remarkable performance to secure two medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics: a gold in the 4x400m relay and a bronze in individual 400. She retired from the sport after the 2022 season as one of the greatest female athletes of all time.

Allyson Felix started her own Shoe brand after leaving Nike

Allyson Felix during the OMEGA panel discussion with Olympic ambassadors at The Planet OMEGA exhibition launch in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for OMEGA)

Following not being satisfied with Nike's policies for female athletes, Allyson Felix left the company and established her own brand, Saysh, before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021. Saysh is a shoe brand that is intended to support women athletes, their journey in sports, and those who want to start their family.

The brand is known for catering to the needs of pregnant women as it customizes shoes according to their requirements in addition to producing shoes for athletes and ordinary people.