Scorecard Research Beacon
Search Icon
Wellness October 1, 2019

Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix breaks world record held by Usain Bolt 10 months after giving birth

WATCH: How women at Nike changed their workplace culture

Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix has smashed a world record held by a man, gold medal-winning track star Usain Bolt, and she did it just 10 months after giving birth.

Felix, 33, was part of Team USA's mixed-gender 4x400m relay team that won the gold at the World Championships Sunday.

The win gave Felix her 12th gold medal at the world championships, pushing her past Bolt's record for the most gold medals of any athlete at the track and field World Championships.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Allyson Felix (@af85) on

Felix's daughter, Camryn, was born last November via emergency C-section at 32 weeks.

(MORE: Nike to change pregnancy policy in athlete contracts after backlash)
Editor's Picks

The track star had to undergo a C-section "because of severe pre-eclampsia that threatened the lives of me and my baby," she wrote in the New York Times.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Allyson Felix (@af85) on

Felix returned to competitive racing in July, eight months after giving birth, and has fought ever since to help pave the road for other professional athletes and moms.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Allyson Felix (@af85) on

She was part of a group of female track stars who alleged they were penalized by Nike for being pregnant. After the women spoke out, the company said it would do more to protect female athletes' pay during and after pregnancy.

(MORE: A woman carries twins for her twin sister and 8 other supermom moments)

"I think everything I went through this year ... it just brings it all back that it's so much bigger than myself," Felix, who went on to become the first sponsored athlete for Athleta, told ESPN at the world championships in Doha, Qatar.

Felix was not the only mom to win at the world championships.

Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce celebrated her win in the 100-meter race with her 2-year-old son and called it a "victory for motherhood," according to ESPN.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by IAAF (@iaaf_athletics) on

Fraser-Pryce told ESPN she sat on her bed and cried when she found out she was pregnant, but said of her decision to keep competing, "I knew how I felt and I knew I wasn't ready to go. I had something left to do, and I stayed focused on the goal."