Allyson Felix’s remarkable career has finally come to an end as the US sprinter bowed out in front of a home crowd at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Felix burst onto the scene as a teenager in 2003 and retires as the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history. The US star announced back in April that this year would be her last as an athlete and stated that she was running this season for her daughter, Camryn. It was not the fairytale ending Felix had hoped for as the US team could only claim bronze in the 4x400m mixed relay, but that didn’t stop Camryn from cheering on her mother. Adorable footage has emerged of the four-year-old supporting Felix, alongside her father, who is fellow American sprinter Kenneth Ferguson. While Felix didn’t quite manage to secure a memorable farewell gold, Camryn was seen jumping up and down anyway and giving her mum a hug –– clearly showing how proud she was, regardless of the result. 

The end of an incredible career

Felix is a globally recognised athlete and is no doubt up there with the likes of Usain Bolt when it comes to track-and-field icons. 

The American has won more Olympics gold medals than any other US star and seven of her 11 medals have been gold. 

Her 19 World Championship medals are also a record, with 13 of these being gold. 

Allyson Felix

Away from competing, Felix has been an advocate for black rights and a voice for women in sport. 

In May 2019, she wrote a piece for the New York Times revealing that her sponsor, Nike, wanted to pay her 70 per cent less after becoming a mother. 

Following the public controversy, Nike altered their maternal policy in August 2019. 

For her advocacy and influence worldwide, Felix has twice been included in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. 

Tributes paid to Felix 

Understandably, a number of people and sports teams have paid tribute to Felix. 

Olympic hurdler, Queen Harrison-Claye tweeted “Allyson Felix. That’s it, that’s the tweet. #GOAT.” 

Meanwhile, Team USA started the hashtag #ThankYouAllyson and published a series of tweets praising the American star. 

Even Google took the opportunity to celebrate the sprinter. If you type Felix’s name into the search engine it pops up with the messages: “Olympian, Mother, Advocate,” and “Congrats on 20 unstoppable years.”