Even in a country that has long been a dominant power in track and field (athletics to our non-U.S. readers), Allyson Felix stood out. Originally a specialist in the 100 and 200 meters, she added the 400 meters to her repertoire and continued her string of success. Her final medal haul includes 11 Olympic medals, 7 of them gold, over 5 Olympic Games; 20 World Championships medals, 14 of them gold; and 4 championships in the Diamond League. She was also the first athlete in track and field history to medal in three different relays: the 4 x 100, the 4 x 400, and the mixed 4 x 400.
Matthew O’Neill and Perri Peltz’s documentary She Runs the World (11/16/2025 1:00 pm MX Movies and Bar) celebrates Felix’s athletics success, from her days as a precocious junior athlete to her becoming the most decorated athlete in World Championships History (male or female; the runner-up is Usain Bolt). That part of the film is a straightforward sports movie, full of archival footage and interviews that create a sense of just how special an athlete she was. In fact, it’s conventional almost to a fault, although fans of track and field will certainly enjoy it. But there’s another important part to the Allyson Felix story that makes her story stand out: her choice to use the fame she won as a champion athlete to advocate for maternity protection for both female athletes and for all Black women, who have an elevated risk of complications during pregnancy.
For the first part of her career, Felix was a professional athlete sponsored by Nike. All her success meant nothing when she tried to renegotiate her contract to include pregnancy protections, however, because no law guaranteed sponsored athletes in the United States the basic maternity protections enjoyed by women elsewhere in much of the world. Felix did become pregnant, and it was not an uncomplicated pregnancy: she developed pre-eclampsia and gave birth via an emergency C-section. She was so marked by the experience that she became a spokesperson for Black women, who have an elevated risk for pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy complications, and are also subject to unequal treatment in the health care system.
She also became a leader in demanding protections for athletes during pregnancy. When Nike offered only a major cut in salary and no protections, she left them and signed with Athleta, becoming their first sponsored athlete. Two other Nike-sponsored runners, Kara Goucher and Alysia Montaño, had made similar allegation about Nike’s refusal to support them during their pregnancies, but Felix was the one who succeeded in bringing about reform; after she left, Nike created a new policy guaranteeing no salary reductions based on performance for the 18 months surrounding a pregnancy.
Felix also came back to athletics after giving birth, winning gold and bronze medals at the Tokyo Olympics and three more World Championships medals as well, two of them gold. She also continued to advocate for maternal care and income protection. It seems like a no-brainer to me—where do people think the next generation is going to come from?—but when it comes to paying the costs of women having children, somehow it’s always someone else’s problem. This is not the approach taken in most countries, nor is it how things work in most occupations, so I’m not sure what the source of the problem is. Is it the sexism of sports? The belief that sports aren’t really a job? Straight-up racism and misogyny? Whatever the answer, it’s not OK and we need more spokespeople like Allyson Felix to speak out until the problems are fixed. | Sarah Boslaugh
The 34th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival runs Nov. 6-16, 2025 at various locations around St. Louis. Further information is available from the Cinema St. Louis web site.
