Eleven-time Olympic medalist Allyson Felix has been named Sportswomen of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation. Felix surpassed track star Carl Lewis and is now the most decorated American track and field athlete in Olympic history.
The Olympic champion has won 11 medals at the Olympics. She has won 7 Olympic gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal. The 35-year-old track and field star won her first Olympic medal at the 2004 Olympics in Greece, where she won the silver medal in the 200-meter race.
At the 2008 Games in China, Felix won another silver medal in the 200 meters and her first Olympic gold medal in the 4×400-meter relay. Felix won a gold medal at every Olympics since and has 19 World Champion gold medals. The champion was also named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2020.
Tennis champion Billie Jean King founded the Women’s Sports Foundation and released a statement congratulating the new Sportswomen of the Year and other award honorees. Naomi Osaka received the Foundation’s Wilma Rudolph Courage Award for her activism and bringing awareness to mental health.
“The Women’s Sports Foundation is an ally, advocate and catalyst for girls and women to reach their highest potential in sport and life,” said King. “I am inspired by this incredible group of honorees and proud to recognize their record-setting and glass-shattering achievements, and encouraged by the girls around the globe who are boldly blazing new paths.”
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Felix is married to track and field star Kenneth Ferguson and the couple has a young daughter, Camryn, born in 2018. The track star had an emergency c-section at only 32-weeks, and Camyryn was just three pounds and seven ounces when she was born. Both Felix and Camryn recovered, and mom went on to win two more Olympic medals.
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Felix posted a video about the Annual Salute to Women In Sports on Instagram on Oct. 14 with a caption.
“There aren’t many moments where we get to celebrate women’s sports,” wrote Felix. “Tonight is one of those nights. Join me & the @womenssportsfoundation TONIGHT Wed, Oct. 13 at 8pm ET for the Annual Salute to Women in Sports, celebrating champion athletes, leaders & extraordinary moments in women’s sports.”
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Other Black women who have won the award include gymnast Simone Biles, tennis champion Serena Williams and Gabby Douglas.
