--- --- Sep 22, 2020 # Allyson Felix by Christy Turlington Burns  DOHA, QATAR - SEPTEMBER 29: Allyson Felix of the United States reacts after setting a new world record in the 4x400 Metres Mixed Relay during day three of 17th IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 at Khalifa International Stadium on September 29, 2019 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) DOHA, QATAR - SEPTEMBER 29: Allyson Felix of the United States reacts after setting a new world record in the 4x400 Metres Mixed Relay during day three of 17th IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 at Khalifa International Stadium on September 29, 2019 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)Patrick Smith—Getty Images [Allyson Felix](https://time.com/5809362/allyson-felix-tokyo-olympics-delay/) is one of the most decorated athletes in track and field. When athletes like her speak out about the injustices they face, they are taking a stand for us all. So after Allyson [publicly called out her sponsor at the time, Nike](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/opinion/allyson-felix-pregnancy-nike.html), for threatening to pay her less after she gave birth to her daughter in 2018, she had my attention and my support. [Pregnancy discrimination](https://time.com/3616516/supreme-court-ups-young-pregnancy-discrimination/) puts women and their families at risk. Any brand profiting from the attributes and accolades of women should ramp up their support during this period—not cut it back. To do less is unjust. Women have proved time and again that they can be more resilient after childbirth, and female athletes are no exception. They come back, oftentimes faster and stronger—in fact, Allyson [took home her 13th world championship gold in fall 2019](https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/09/29/allyson-felix-usain-bolt-world-championships-record/) and had been [training to compete at the Tokyo Olympics this summer](https://time.com/5809557/japan-olympics-cancel/). After she came forward, Nike [updated its maternity policies](https://www.si.com/olympics/2019/08/16/nike-contract-reduction-pregnancy-protection-athlete-maternity-leave) to safeguard athletes’ pay for 18 months surrounding childbirth. But society needs to protect all of its mothers. We need to ensure they have equitable access to safe and respectful care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum to not only survive but thrive in motherhood. Thank you for using your voice to advance maternity rights, Allyson. _Turlington Burns is the founder of Every Mother Counts_ Allyson Felix Is on the 2020 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888239/allyson-felix/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888239/allyson-felix/"},"headline":"Allyson Felix","datePublished":"2020-09-22T19:37:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:37.633Z","description":"Find out why the Olympic track and field star is one of the most influential people of 2020, according to Christy Turlington Burns.","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888239/allyson-felix/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Icons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt623d4a52d6368dd9/698a1254929fad2e0dbf68f5/time-100-Allyson-Felix.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt623d4a52d6368dd9/698a1254929fad2e0dbf68f5/time-100-Allyson-Felix.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888239/allyson-felix/","name":"Allyson Felix"}}]}] ```