When American sprinter Allyson Felix retired in 2022, she didn’t have anything left to prove. After winning two medals at the Tokyo Olympics, she had 11 total, which was more than Carl Lewis, more than Usain Bolt. She had won seven gold medals, too, the most by any female track and field athlete. At 36 years old, she was going out on top.
But over the next few years, “there was this sense of loss and grief of leaving something that I did for almost 20 years and loved,” Felix told NBC News. “And then a lot of identity work around, who am I without track and field? I worked through a lot of that.”
Felix spent time with her family and stayed busy with various business and sports ventures. Then in 2024, she attended the Paris Olympics with her family. She took her daughter to see Simone Biles compete on the vault. It was Felix’s first Olympics as a spectator, and “it was strange being there and not competing,” she said. “Just an odd feeling.”
In mid-2025, as her 40th birthday approached, Felix was training with her husband, Kenny Ferguson, a track athlete himself, when an idea came to her. She was looking at her times, thinking about the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, her hometown.
“It kept coming back to me: I wonder if I would be able to qualify?” Felix said. “It was something I was playing around with in my head. Then I started moving around more, doing [more] workouts, and I was like, huh. This might actually be possible.”
A few weeks ago, Felix officially announced her comeback in an interview with Time Magazine. On Thursday, she appeared on the “TODAY” show to discuss it, too. Her comeback tour is in full swing. Felix has been training for about seven months now and will continue to ramp up, with an eye on returning to competitive races in 2027 and, hopefully, qualifying for a spot on the competitive U.S. relay team for the 2028 LA Olympics.
If Felix makes the team, she will be 42 years old when those Games arrive.
In an interview with NBC News, Felix said she had reached “a place of peace” around those identity issues. She isn’t coming back to satisfy her ego or add to her trophy case. As Time Magazine reported, Felix has labeled her comeback a “live experiment in human potential.”
“I’m very curious why there isn’t longevity [in sprinting],” Felix said. “I know in marathons and longer races, it’s more common to see older athletes. I wonder if it’s because it’s not possible, or because no one has tried it and pushed those limits.”
She also wants to “combat the story around being 40 and being told what my life should look like,” she added. “I have this desire and this question in my head, and I want to explore it.” And that question in her head is essentially, she said: “What is possible at this age?”
In recent years, Felix had been inspired by other female athletes making comebacks in their 40s, after prolonged time away. Venus Williams returned to tennis last year at 45, and Felix appreciated “how unapologetically she has just gone after what she wants.”
Also: earlier this year, Felix was in Italy for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, in her capacity as an athlete advisor to the International Olympic Committee, when American skier Lindsey Vonn made her own comeback at 41. Felix wasn’t on the mountain in person, but she said she was “glued to the television watching,” when Vonn competed.
“To me, what was inspiring was she completely changed people’s thoughts around what’s possible,” Felix said. “I think that’s not just in sports. That’s in life, and that’s what impacted me. We’re all so proud of her. It’s just super courageous what she’s done.”
Felix added that she and Vonn have already “made plans to connect and chat.”
That will be part of the comeback tour, too: Felix wants to soak up all the information she can about recovery, nutrition, advancements in cleat technology, anything that could help a 42-year-old compete with athletes half their age. She says she plans to be “vulnerable and share the process” along the way, through media platforms and her website moreinus.com, so others can perhaps learn from her training journey, too.
Felix might not have decided to come back, if the 2028 Games weren’t in her hometown. She also serves on the organizing committee for the LA Games. To get the chance to run in front of all her family and friends, “I can’t imagine not trying, you know?” she said.
Making the relay team will be “very difficult,” too, Felix acknowledged. “Obviously, we have so much depth. It’s a tall task for sure.”
But that’s not the point, in Felix’s mind. “To me, success is just this. It’s going for it,” she said. “I don’t know what the outcome is, but I can honestly say for the first time in my career that I’ll be happy regardless. It’s just the attempt that it’s all about. Obviously, I would love to make the team. But I wouldn’t consider it a big failure if I don’t.”
