35-Year-Old Allyson Felix Finishes Second In 400m, Qualifying For Her Fifth Olympics

This is her first Olympics as a mom!

35-year-old Allyson Felix finished second in the 400 meters at trials, qualifying for her fifth Olympics, ESPN reports.

Felix first made her Olympic debut in 2004. Since then, she’s won nine Olympic medals, six of them gold, and is considered one of the most decorated athletes in the sport. In 2018, she gave birth to her daughter Camryn, speaking candidly about her emergency C-section at 32 weeks, Camryn’s time in a neonatal care unit, and her journey to recovery and get back to training. Now her daughter is two and was on the sidelines during trials as Felix raced. She finished second place in the 400 meters after Quanera Hayes, clocking in a season-best time of 50.02 seconds and qualifying for the Olympics. 

“Man, it has been a fight to get here. And one thing I know how to do is fight, so I just wanted to do that all the way home,” Felix told reporters. 

She is expected to participate in the 400 meters, the 4×400 meters relay, and possibly the mixed-gender 4×400 meters relay at the Tokyo Olympics. Felix said this will be her final Olympic Games. She will tie with Carl Lewis’ record for most Olympic medals by an American track and field athlete when she wins. 

Felix credits Camryn with changing her perspective as an athlete and giving her the motivation she needed to compete at trials.

“I just wanted to really show her, no matter what, that you do things with character, integrity, and you don’t give up. And to me, whether that was winning, losing, no matter the outcome, I wanted to stay consistent with that. Having her as motivation through these past couple of years has just given me a whole new drive,” said Felix.

After the 400 meter race, Felix and Hayes joined each other on the track and their children for a warm embrace. 

Congratulations, Allyson!

Photo Courtesy of Ashley Landis/Associated Press