"My daughter was in NICU for a month" - Allyson Felix makes her feelings known on 'traumatic' experiences that helped in 'finding her voice'

Allyson Felix is one of the most iconic sprinters in US history and has amassed a prominent list of accolades. The seven-time Olympic gold medalist recently shared her past experiences which led her to become an entrepreneur.

During the women’s sports reception in Davos, by “The Female Quotient”, Felix spoke about her experiences including what motivated her to start her own company, a management firm for women’s sports and motivating her further in her business acumen.

“I did the work. Didn't want to ruffle any feathers. Just very focused on accomplishing the goals that I had and it wasn't until going through very real-life situations that it pushed me from that and so I had my daughter and I had a really traumatic birth experience with her and I suffer from severe preeclampsia and my daughter was in the NICU for a month and that experience just changed me,” Allyson Felix shared. [8:19 onwards]

She further continued:

“I think it really helped me to find my voice and it allowed me to say, ‘Okay, it's alright to have an opinion on something. It's okay to push for change in certain areas if it's needed’. So, I think it was at first step and once I did, then it was realizing, ‘Okay, you can do this and it's okay to do something that scares you, it's okay to be uncomfortable’, and as I've moved forward in that, it's really helped me now, as I've launched Saysh, my footwear company, as we've launched Always Alpha Management firm focusing on women's sports.”

The 14-time World Championships gold medalist shared how her exposure to real-life situations encouraged her to be fearless in approaching new things.

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Allyson Felix and her journey of championing maternal protection rights for women athletes

Allyson Felix at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 - Day Nine - Source: Getty

Allyson Felix is one of the most decorated athletes in track and field history. During an appearance on “The Daily Show” in July 2024, Felix, who is also an advocate of maternal rights for women athletes, shared her challenging journey.

“When you’ve come back and you’ve gone through the struggles, but they don’t want to support you through that. And that’s what I experienced and really want to fight on behalf of other mothers to say, ‘we have to do this differently’. We need to support every athlete holistically, and that means motherhood as well.” [0:23 onwards]

Felix participated in five Olympic Games, winning a total of 11 medals, including seven golds. The iconic sprinter also fought for maternal policy when she was with Nike.

She later on created her own footwear company named, Saysh and raised this matter in public. The corporation now has changed its maternal policy for its athletes.