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Felix ended her relationship with Nike in 2017 after they failed to guarantee financial protection to expectant female athletes but has praised their decision to change that stance.
American sprint icon Allyson Felix has heaped praise on Nike’s decision to change their policy on sponsoring expectant female athletes seven years since her infamous fall out with the sportswear brand.
Felix famously opted to end her partnership with the company in 2017 when she fell pregnant, citing that the company was willing to slash the financial details of the partnership when she wore her heart on her sleeve in an article in The New York Times in 2019.
This drove her into launching her own shoe brand Saysh, a specialist female footwear brand aiming to make things much more comfortable for women in 2021 alongside her brother Wes Felix.
The move has since inspired Nike into changing their policy on the situation, something Felix has sensationally heaped praise on as she acknowledged they were willing to embrace change.
“Nike has since updated its policy to provide this protection to all of its female athletes, and I commend them for doing the right thing and encouraging the industry to change,” Felix wrote on Saysh.com.
Felix has admitted that Nike were actually willing to grant her protection before the fall out, but it was their unwillingness to offer other athletes the same assurance that pushed her away.
“When my brother Wes and I negotiated my last contract with NIKE, we fought for women not to be penalized financially for having a child,” Felix wrote.
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18:50 - 04.04.2024
TBT: How American sprint legend Allyson Felix used Nike snub to break Usain Bolt's title record and launch shoe brand
This is how Allyson Felix used her infamous fallout with Nike in 2017 as fuel to achieve two big milestones in her career.
“I don’t talk about it often, but NIKE was willing to provide me that protection. They just weren’t willing to offer it to all of their female athletes at that point.
“ I faced a choice. Look out for myself or fight for every woman who would come after me. I chose to fight.”
Her company has launched a Marternity Returns Policy, which aims at protecting female athletes financially when medically unable to compete in races, such as when pregnant, something Felix claims is an initiative to help change the industry for the better to protect them.
“I pledge to continue this fight, not just for my sake but for the sake of women everywhere,” she wrote. “ This is more than a policy; it's a promise—a commitment to a future where our daughters can pursue their dreams unburdened by the battles we're fighting today.”
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10:29 - 11.04.2024
Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt revels in complexity of his own name
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