Olympic icon Felix draws attention with his presence at the Paris Games

Allyson Felix may have finally hung up her spikes after a dazzling career that spanned three decades and five Olympic Games, but the athletics icon is still present at the Games in Paris.

The 38-year-old American legend and most successful athlete in athletics history is the driving force behind the establishment of the first kindergarten for athletes and their children in the Olympic Village.

The site offers the athletes a child-friendly space to play and look after their children, who are not allowed to stay with their parents in the village due to Olympic rules.

It is the latest initiative to emerge from Felix's growing role as a passionate advocate for gender equality and the rights of working mothers.

Felix said the idea for the daycare first came to her when she had to juggle childcare responsibilities while continuing to compete at the highest level after the birth of her daughter Camryn in 2018.

“In the first year of competition I took her everywhere and it was really a challenge,” Felix said in an interview with AFP on Friday.

“It felt like a lot of things were wrong. It was hard being a mother, traveling with an infant, breastfeeding at different stages. Things like washing bottles in hotels – it seemed like it wasn't set up for mothers.”

Felix's idea for a kindergarten received new momentum after she started working for the International Olympic Committee's Athletes Commission in 2022.

“The question 'How can we make it easier for mothers to perform at their best in these big competitions?' was at the forefront. With the Olympics coming up, I could easily raise the issue, thinking of the village. It was very well received.

– Childcare barrier –

“And we've got things rolling. It's a great starting point and I want to build on it.”

Felix said she hopes the facilities created in Paris will become standard at major championships and meetings around the world.

“For me, childcare is a big hurdle and I want it to continue after the Olympics and become the standard at major competitions,” she said.

She would also advocate for other resources to be made available to mothers who wish to return to competitive sport.

“Whether it's being able to talk to someone, or being able to afford having a partner or carer, or more practical things that make it easier,” she said.

Felix, meanwhile, admits she is still getting used to life as an Olympic spectator after appearing at every Games between 2004 and 2021.

“It's very bizarre,” she said. “I was walking through the village the other day and had this strange feeling, like I had to get ready for a race.”

Felix, meanwhile, hopes that Gabby Thomas can reclaim the Olympic title in the 200 m for the USA. No American has won gold in this discipline since Felix's victory in London in 2012.

“I spoke to her just before we came here and I think she’s doing really well,” Felix said of Thomas.

“She seems very confident. And I think her experiences have helped her get to where she is now. She looks really good. I expect good things from her.”

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