Fast and Slow

The most decorated athlete in track and field history reveals how her journey to becoming a mother turned into the fight of her life—and pushed her to find her voice as an advocate and champion, on and off the track

I’m really, really fast. But there’s no such thing as “fast” inside a delivery room.

Allyson Felix, one of the fastest women in the world, meticulously planned out her life according to the rigid training and competition schedule expected of all top female runners. From a young age she witnessed older teammates wrestle with the decision to have a child. Motherhood, Allyson learned, was a high-stakes game that for too many women meant the end of everything they worked so hard for.

But at thirty-three, the sports icon knew she was ready to become a mother herself. She gave birth to a baby girl, Camryn, delivered prematurely after Allyson was diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia, a condition that, she learned, disproportionately impacts Black mothers like her. The experience left both mother and daughter fighting for their lives, and Allyson emerged from the traumatic ordeal forever changed. In the months after her daughter’s birth, Allyson’s contract negotiations with Nike, her long-time endorsement sponsor, stalled when they refused to put language in her agreement that allowed sufficient recovery time without financial penalty. This, after they had also reduced her pay by 60%. Emboldened by her own harrowing motherhood journey, Allyson resolved to fight back. Her brave campaign to create change within Nike reverberated throughout the world of sports and the country at-large, paving the way for the real transformation for female athletes that she still fights for today. Yet, until now, she has never shared her full truth.

In Fast and Slow Allyson Felix chronicles with raw honesty the key milestones that shaped her as a person, mother, businesswoman, groundbreaking change-agent, and the most decorated track and field athlete of all time. In the process she shows readers what it looks like to boldly step into your power—one decision, one act, one bold commitment to yourself at a time.