May 30, 2024

Allyson Felix wins her 10th Olympic medal, tying an American record in her sport.

TOKYO — With nine Olympic medals (six golds and three silvers), Felix was already tied with the Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey as the most decorated female Olympian in track and field.

By winning her 10th Olympic medal in the 400-meter final, she has matched Carl Lewis as the most decorated American athlete in track and field. She also has 18 world championship medals, including 13 golds.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas won the 400-meter race with a time of 48.36, and Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic came in second.

Felix finished with the bronze medal, running her second fastest time ever, in 49.46. The time is faster than her silver medal performance at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

For Felix, this Olympic berth — her fifth — meant something more than medals, though. Her daughter, Camryn, was born in 2018 after an emergency cesarean session at 32 weeks. She remained in the neonatal intensive care unit for weeks.

Felix’s first exercise after Camryn’s birth was a 30-minute walk.

In 2019, Felix penned an opinion piece in The New York Times criticizing the maternity policies of her longtime sponsor, Nike, who declined to guarantee that she would not be punished if she didn’t perform at her highest levels in the months after giving birth.

She came to these Games as an athletes sponsored by Athleta. And weeks before the Tokyo Games, she started her own shoe brand, Saysh.

Felix won the bronze medal wearing her own shoes on her own terms, with her family cheering from home.

She will have a chance of earning yet another Olympic medal in the 4×400 meter relay on Saturday.

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