PARIS — To the seven Olympic titles and 15 world championships won during a record-setting track career, Allyson Felix could have added one more distinction: world’s fastest mom.
After daughter Camryn was delivered prematurely by emergency cesarean section in 2018, Felix returned for her fifth Games in Tokyo, winning two more sprint medals to become the most decorated woman athlete in Olympic track and field history. Yet despite all that speed, Felix found she wasn’t fast enough to keep up with her track career and her daughter without some help.
“It was just kind of an eye-opening experience,†she said. “I took her everywhere that I was competing, and I kind of was surprised at how hard it was and how much you really had to shoulder on your own.â€
So now she’s helping others excel at being both a parent and an Olympian, first approaching the International Olympic Committee with the idea of establishing a nursery in the athletes’ village a year ago, then teaming with Procter & Gamble, a longtime Olympic sponsor, to make that happen in Paris.
“I thought it was just kind of like a wild idea that maybe in L.A. we would be able to accomplish,†said Felix, 38, who is a member of the IOC athletes commission. “It was very well received and things started to go into motion.â€
The nursery, also known as the family space, opened Tuesday and is the first at an Olympic Games to be set aside for athletes to visit, play with and care for their children, who are not allowed into the athletes’ housing. And not coincidentally it is part of the first Games to reach gender parity, with a near-equal number of male and female athletes expected to compete.
The airy room, about half the size of a basketball court, is near the entrance to the 133-acre village — nearly as large as Knotts Berry Farm — and is stuffed with toys and age-appropriate books in at least three languages — English, French and Spanish. The walls are covered with a cartoonish take on the Paris skyline while the floor has a tiny track. There are also plush chairs, a changing table, an endless supply of diapers and wipes, and a private area for breastfeeding.
The room is available for free, an hour at a time, to any of the more than 23,000 athletes and staff who will be living in the village during the Olympics and Paralympics. And its presence answers growing vocal demands from women athletes who are struggling to balance the obligations of their sports with their responsibilities as parents.
Many governing bodies in international sports, in addition to the IOC, are finally listening. Earlier this year, for example, the French Olympic Committee, after badgering from reigning Olympic judo champion Clarisse Agbegnenou, said it would provide private hotel rooms near the village where lactating mothers can sleep with their nursing children.
It wasn’t always that way. Felix, who suffered complications during her pregnancy that threatened her life and that of her unborn daughter, had an infamous break with longtime sponsor Nike, which asked her to take a 70% pay cut and declined the maternity protections she requested when she decided to start a family.
That not only angered and surprised her, but also turned her into an activist.
“I was blown away,†said Felix, who had already won 10 Olympic and 17 world championship medals by then. “I thought it wasn’t a huge ask, so I was more shocked that it was even an issue. And, yeah, it just made me want to fight for it even more.â€
Her first-person account of the ordeal in the New York Times would spawn a congressional inquiry into racial disparities in maternal mortality and led Nike to change its policies, benefiting scores of women. She also started her own shoe company, Saysh, which provides free shoes to any customer experiencing a size change during pregnancy.
But providing nurseries and other family spaces at large sporting events like the Olympics don’t benefit just those athletes with children. In Paris, Olympic athletes have roommates and share apartments with several other teammates, so bringing children around, even when possible, isn’t always welcome.
“As a mom who competed at the Olympics, I loved the mental break when I got to spend an hour with my kids. [But] my biggest stress/concern was the kids disturbing my teammates or other athletes during our down time,†said Christie Pearce (formerly Rampone), one of America’s most accomplished soccer moms who competed in two Olympics and three World Cups after giving birth for the first time.
“This space allows parents to interact in a stress-free environment. This will allow athletes to focus on their performances rather than worrying about how to find quality time to provide for their children.â€
Maggie Steffens, arguably the greatest women’s water polo star of all time, isn’t afraid to ask for help showcasing one of Team USA’s top squads.
Yet getting the nursery up and running is hardly the finish line for Felix, who ran her last race two years ago and is now a two-time mother in addition to being a seven-time Olympic champion after she and husband Kenneth Ferguson, a former sprinter and hurdler, welcomed a son, Trey, in April.
“It’s a great starting point,†said Felix, who is commentating on the Paris Games for both NBC and Yahoo Sports. “I want to continue to push it even further.
“It is something [athletes] can take advantage of, but it also begins to shift the culture and hopefully show that if you do choose to have a family while you’re competing, the support will be there.â€
Go beyond the scoreboard
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