Allyson Felix, the most decorated American track and field athlete of all time, has announced she will be retiring after the 2022 season.
On Wednesday, the 36-year-old shared the news in a heartfeltInstagrampost, telling fans that she’s given the sport everything she has and will spend her final season simply enjoying the track.
“As a little girl they called chicken legs, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I’d have a career like this,” Felix wrote. “I have so much gratitude for this sport that has changed my life. I have given everything I have to running and for the first time I’m not sure if I have anything left to give.”
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Throughout her storied track and field career, the five-time Olympian has taken home an impressive seven gold medals, three silver medals, and one bronze medal.
Felix added that she’s dedicating her final season to women everywhere, as well as her 3-year-old daughterCamryn— whom she welcomed in 2018 with her husband Kenneth Ferguson.
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“This season I’m running for women. I’m running for a better future for my daughter. I’m running for you,” Felix wrote. “More to come on that, so stay tuned, but I’ll be sharing a series of announcements that I’m hoping will make the world better for women.”
“Here’s to my final season✨,” she concluded.
“I feel completely fulfilled to have run that last race. There’s nothing I felt I left undone, you know? I feel confident walking away from the Olympics,” said the star, who is the oldest American woman to ever win a track and field gold medal.
“I’m so excited now through Saysh to continue to have a voice and hopefully continue to have an impact for women. I’m really excited for the next chapter,” she said in August 2021. “I hope I’ve been a source of inspiration, but more so for things off of the track. Obviously, it’s our profession, it’s what we love to do. But I think so many of these athletes are capable of also having a lot of impact in really meaningful ways outside of the sport as well.”
source: people.com
