Eleven-time Olympic medalist Allyson Felix plans to return to track and field competition in 2027 — after retiring in 2022 — and bid to compete at a sixth Olympics in 2028 in her hometown of Los Angeles at age 42, a representative for Felix confirmed Monday.
“So many of us have been told not to do the big, bold thing,” Felix said, according to a Time article that was reposted on her social media. “You know, at this age, I should probably be staying home and taking care of my kids (Camryn, 7, and Trey, 2), doing all that. And just, why not? Let’s flip it on its head. Let’s go after the thing. Let’s be vulnerable.”
Felix plans to return to full training in October with Bobby Kersee, who coached her from 2004 through her last race at the 2022 World Championships, the rep confirmed.
Then in 2028, she can bid to become the first U.S. track and field athlete to compete at a sixth Olympics.
To make the team, she would likely have to at least make the Olympic Trials 100m or 400m final (for relay pool consideration) or finish in the top three to qualify in an individual event.
Her last two Olympic appearances in 2016 and 2021 came in the 400m.
“I would probably be upset at myself if I just didn’t give it a try,” Felix said, according to Time. “However it turns out, I’ll still be there with my kids, hanging out and cheering everybody on.”
Allyson Felix plans to return to competition in 2027, ending a five-year retirement.
Felix is already the oldest American to be part of an Olympic relay team on the track, taking women’s 4x400m gold at the Tokyo Games at age 35.
The oldest American to compete in an individual Olympic sprint event was Gail Devers in the 100m and 100m hurdles in 2004 at age 37, according to Olympedia.org. (Felix and Devers trained on the same track when Felix was in high school.)
Felix made her Olympic debut in 2004, winning silver in the 200m at age 18.
She went on to win 11 Olympic medals, second in Olympic track and field history behind Paavo Nurmi, a Finnish distance runner in the 1920s.
Felix earned an individual medal at all five Games (with 200m gold in 2012) and five relay golds between the 4x100m and 4x400m.
She added records of 20 medals and 14 gold medals at biennial World Outdoor Championships, including 200m gold in 2005, 2007 and 2009 and 400m gold in 2015.
In 2022, when she announced that would be her final season, she posted, “I have given everything I have to running and for the first time I’m not sure if I have anything left to give.”
Felix became a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2022 and a full-fledged IOC member in 2024. She is also a member of the LA28 Organizing Committee Athletes’ Commission.
Felix was born and raised in LA, graduating from Baptist High School in 2003 (the same year she turned pro and made her first world team) and from USC in 2007. As a pro, she trained at UCLA.
Allyson Felix will compete in the world track and field championships one last time before retiring from the sport.
