Athletics: American legend Allyson Felix will retire at the end of the season

American sprinter Allyson Felix, the most successful female athlete in history, Olympic and World Games combined, announced on Wednesday that she would play her last season this year before finally hanging up her points at 36.

“When I was little, I was nicknamed “chicken thighs”.

Never, in my wildest dreams, would I have imagined having such a career.

I have so much gratitude for this sport that has changed my life.

I gave everything I had to the race and, for the first time, I'm not sure I have anything left to give,” the 200 and 400m specialist, seven-time Olympic champion, said on Instagram. .

“I want to say goodbye and thank you to this sport and to the people who have helped shape me, in the only way I know how: by one last lap,” continued the 13-time world champion athlete.

Felix, who won her 10th and 11th Olympic medals at the Tokyo Games last year (gold in the 4x400m and bronze in the 400m), becoming the female athlete with the most podium appearances (the only Finland's Paavo Nurmi did better in the men's category), is due to participate in the Penn Relays on April 30, to run a 300m there.

“I will run for women”

But his goal seems to focus on the World Athletics Championships to be held in July in Eugene, Oregon, with the American selections to be held at the same place at the end of June as an imposed stage.

Felix is ​​the most decorated female athlete in Olympic history, with eleven all-metal medals, the first at the Athens Games in 2004. She is also the athlete of any gender with the most charms at the Worlds, 18 in total, including seven in individual events and 11 in relays.

Her last major competition dates back to the summer of 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics, three years after giving birth to her daughter Camryn in 2018, who required an emergency cesarean section, after only 32 weeks of pregnancy.

Her situation has since pushed her to become a fervent defender of the rights of working mothers, after breaking her contract in 2019 with her equipment supplier Nike, which had reduced her emoluments during her pregnancy.

“This season, I will run for women.

I will run for a better future for my daughter.

I will run for you,” Felix assured.

“This season, it will not be a question of time, but of joy.

If you see me on the track this year, I hope to be able to share with you a moment, a memory and my gratitude,” she concluded.