Back in late 2019, Allyson Felix had a contract dispute with Nike while she was pregnant. She asked for maternity protection, but Nike offered a 70% pay cut after pregnancy. So, she stood firm, which later pushed Nike to change its maternity protection policy. But for Felix, it was never just about money, but about her rights as a woman athlete. In the years that followed, she continued competing at the highest level and eventually stepped away from the sport in 2022.

Now, four years later, she is considering a return for the LA 2028 Olympics. However, some fans have questioned her decision and even suggested “coming back for money at 42?” But Felix clarified that her return is for personal reasons.

“I would think track and field would not be the place to do it for the money,” she said in a TIME interview. After all, track and field athletes mainly get money from sponsorships, not prize money.

In fact, money has never been the center of her journey. After leaving Nike, she co-founded Saysh, a women-focused footwear and lifestyle brand built around female athletes and everyday wear. The company has raised around $8 million in funding and focuses on performance and design made specifically for women.

Felix even admitted that she was not lacking direction that led her to make a comeback in her 40’s. “I feel very fulfilled,” she said.  After all, Allyson Felix is the most decorated track and field athlete in history, with 11 Olympic medals, including seven gold, and 20 World Championship medals. But even after retiring, she never lost track.

She was elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission in 2024. She attended the Paris 2024 Olympics in this role, engaging with athletes and supporting the Olympics. Among other things, she helped establish the first-of-its-kind nursery in the Olympic Village to support mothers with childcare, nutrition, and rest during the games. But watching the Paris Olympics was not easy for her.

Like many athletes, Allyson Felix has shared that adjusting to life outside competition came with mixed emotions. Even though she attended the Paris Olympics with her family, she admitted to having ‘mixed emotions’.

“It was definitely mixed emotions,” she said. “There were moments where I was like, ‘Oh, this is so great. It’s so exciting to be in the stands and on the other side.’ And then there were moments where I was, ‘You know, I miss this feeling.’”

So yes, Allyson Felix’s potential return for LA 2028 is rooted in that emotional connection, but there is also a larger idea she has been developing over time.

The approach Felix is taking for a possible LA 2028 return

For Allyson Felix, the journey towards LA 2028 began a year ago during workouts with her husband, Kenny Ferguson (a former University of South Carolina sprinter). They were working out on a track near their house north of LA, and that training gradually evolved into a goal.

That’s when the plan began to take shape. Felix and her coach, Bobby Kersee, started training in October with an aim to possibly return in 2027 before trying for an Olympic medal in 2028. It’s not about training for an entire season, but for one goal – the LA 2028 Olympics, whose track and field schedule is to start on July 15, 2028.

But for Allyson Felix, this is a “live experiment in human potential,” where she sees age not as a barrier, but as a perception she wants to change. Interestingly, no American sprinter has qualified for an Olympic team in their 40s. But it won’t be easy for her.

To get there, she would have to navigate the intense U.S. national qualifying trials, in which the young excel. By the time the LA Olympics start, she would be nearly 43 years old. Despite this, she has opted to take it head-on.

So, if Allyson Felix does make the Olympic team at 42, it would be a first for a U.S. sprinter to do so. But at the same time, in sprinting, athletes over 40 reaching the Olympics are extremely rare. But there are cases like that of Slovenia’s Merlene Ottey, who competed at the 2004 Olympics at 44.

So, Felix’s potential return to the sport is carved out as an uncharted space in sport, but it’s not impossible.