Allyson Felix has made history in what will surely be her last Olympic career. Her 11th medal at Tokyo 2020 gave her more medals than any American in athletics history. She already set the record one day before for the most medals for a woman in the history of Olympic athletics. She will be remembered not only for that but also for a great change that society should have accomplished many years ago.
When she started her career, her main sponsor was Nike. She said: "Ironically, one of the deciding factors for me in signing with Nike nearly a decade ago was what I thought was Nike’s core principles... My disappointment is not just with Nike, but with how the sports apparel industry at large treats female athletes. This isn’t just about pregnancy."
For most of her life, Allyson focused on one thing: winning medals. And she was good at it. So, in 2018, she decided to start a family, knowing that pregnancy can be "the kiss of death", also because she was negotiating a contract renewal with Nike. She asked Nike to have some contractual guarantees, considering her motherhood, also accepting a pay cut. Nike declined. She couldn't accept the enduring status quo around motherhood anymore.
Felix decided to create and launch his own shoe company (Saysh), founded with brother Wes. Saysh has a mostly female leadership team and shoes that are "designed for and by women." Felix also added: “All of my experiences of becoming a mom and of raising a daughter helped show me my true competitor: inequality. The launch of Saysh is another step towards greater equity for each of us, and when you see me run, know that I’m running towards family, towards motherhood."
Allyson decided that it was not enough and decided to create a child care fund to support female athletes who are mothers. When Felix announced a new apparel partnership with Athleta and the Women's Sports Foundation, she created The Power of She Fund: Child Care Grants. The program has committed $ 200,000 to professional athlete mothers intending to cover the costs of child care as they pursue goals in their respective sports while balancing motherhood. So far, nine athletes have been named grant recipients and will receive $10,000 each.
Recently, thanks to the voices of a few brave women, the industry took a step in the right direction. Brands like Burton, Altra, Nuun, and Brooks came forward to announce new contractual guarantees for women who have children while being supported by their sponsorships. A few days later, Nike also committed to changing its maternity policy, announcing, according to The Wall Street Journal, that “it is adding language to new contracts for female athletes that will protect their pay during pregnancy.” A necessary change and that should have been made years ago.
She drove the change and she is the change. It's amazing to see people who can find the courage to speak out loud and let other people know. Together we are stronger and we can be part of the new wave of change.
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