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Allyson Felix is one of the most decorated runners of all time and has been a dominant force on the track for the United States for the last 19 years. She debuted in the 2003 U.S. National Championships, placing second.
Felix capped her incredible and iconic career with a bronze medal in the World Athletics Championships in 2022.
She recently stopped working with Nike, who are arguably the premier athletic brand. Being able to work with that brand is not something everyone is afforded, so why did Felix step away from the deal?
According to the runner herself, Nike was disrespectful to her and to other pregnant women and new mothers.
What Nike did to make Allyson Felix walk away
Allyson Felix celebrated a win in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but took the time to discuss a few struggles she had recently experienced, including the lack of a sponsor.
Nike allegedly asked the runner to take a 70% pay cut because she was pregnant, which Felix found beyond disrespectful. The Olympian spilled the beans in an op-ed for the New York Times in 2019, writing:
"If we have children, we risk pay cuts from our sponsors during pregnancy and afterward. It’s one example of a sports industry where the rules are still mostly made for and by men."
Felix stated that for most of her life, she had wanted to be an athlete. She succeeded at that, to say the least. Towards the end of her career, though, the star runner decided she wanted to be an athlete and a mother, something not a lot of people have been able to do.
The runner and Nike had been negotiating a contract at the time. Allyson Felix explained:
"Despite all my victories, Nike wanted to pay me 70 percent less than before. If that’s what they think I’m worth now, I accept that. What I’m not willing to accept is the enduring status quo around maternity. I asked Nike to contractually guarantee that I wouldn’t be punished if I didn’t perform at my best in the months surrounding childbirth."
After Nike declined her request, the two parties found themselves at a standstill. Felix wrote that when she joined Nike, a woman had told her that the company empowers women, but the runner's own experience disproved that idea.
Eventually, many brands shifted to protect pregnant women, including Nike. They told the Wall Street Journal that the brand 'is adding language to new contracts for female athletes that will protect their pay during pregnancy'.
Allyson Felix did not get back to working with Nike but is appreciative of their change and that the industry as a whole is changing.
