Allyson Felix breaks gold medal record previously held by Usain Bolt – 10 months after giving birth
U.S. runner Allyson Felix competed in a mixed-gender relay race at the IAAF World Championships this week — earning Team USA a gold medal and breaking an individual record. Not only did Felix help her relay team win, she also collected her 12th world championship gold medal, just 10 months after giving birth.
Usain Bolt previously held the recored for most world championship gold medals, with 11 total. Felix is now the first athlete — male or female — to win 12 total gold medals at the world championships.
The star runner has earned 25 gold medals over her career, including ones at the 2009, 20012 and 2016 Olympic games, according to CBS Sports. She hasn't won gold since the 2017 IAAF World Championships, but it appears that even after skipping a year she wasn't rusty.
Felix and her teammates Courtney Okolo, Wil London and Michael Cherry dominated the 4x400 relay race. And while it was a team effort, Felix did her part less than a year after giving birth to her daughter, Camryn, in November 2018.
Her husband and daughter were in the stand during the relay event. "It was really special," Felix told NBC Sports after the race. "It's been a crazy year for me, so just to be here, to be running with this great team, I just feel so blessed."
Despite the record-breaking accomplishment, the 33-year-old said she still has a ways to go. "I'm just grateful to be healthy, to be working my way back. It feels good," she said.
While she beat one Jamaican runner's record, Felix praised another: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who is also a new mom. The athletes took a photo together at the IAAF World Champions and both posted it on Instagram with a poignant caption about motherhood.
"Our journey to motherhood and back is bigger than us and bigger than sport. I believe it's about overcoming and that is something we all have to do," Felix wrote. "Women, let's support each other. Uplift and encourage. Open doors for one another. Celebrate and elevate each other. We can all win. This is sisterhood."
"With over a decade in athletics and many medals between us, our journey to motherhood and back is another victory we share," Fraser-Pryce's caption read. Both runners gave a shoutout to their babies, Camryn and Zyon, in their captions.
Although Felix has accomplished a lot in athletics and motherhood this year, she's not taking a break. She's now looking forward to competing in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
