Five-time Olympian and footwear brand cofounder Allyson Felix is hoping to make her track-and-field comeback just in time for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
In a new interview with Time Magazine, the 40-year-old told the publication that she started thinking of pursuing LA28 for over a year now, but “missed the feeling” of competing when she was in attendance at the Paris Games in 2024.
According to Time, Felix has called her comeback a “once-in-a-lifetime homecoming” since she’s never had the opportunity to run in front of hometown fans. “And it is the only thing powerful enough to pull me back,” she said.
During her track-and-field career, Felix has won 11 Olympic medals, seven of which are gold, and has a record 20 medals from world championships. She is the most decorated athlete in her field to date and officially retired from sprinting in 2022.
“I totally get the person who sticks around too long and you’re like, ‘What are they doing?’” Felix told Time. “I know, at 40, I am not at my peak. I have no illusions about that. I’m very clear in what it is and what I want to see. And so I hope it’s seen that way.”
Felix made her pivot into footwear after a public split with Nike in 2019 due to frustration with the Swoosh’s policies for pregnant women and mothers. Amid the breakup, Felix realized she still needed shoes to run in. So came Saysh (named after “seiche,” the phenomenon of a standing wave in an enclosed body of water) and with it the opportunity to rewrite some of the rules of the male-dominated athletic footwear world. The concept was to create a “by women, for women” shoe brand focused on building communities.
In a cover story with FN in honor of her 2021 FNAA Launch of the Year Award, the Olympian spoke of the importance of seeing women — and women of color as entrepreneurs.
“When we thought of starting Saysh, [I wondered], why do I believe that this is not possible?” Felix told FN in 2021. “I think one of the answers was that I never saw it growing up. People where me and [her brother] Wes [Felix] are from, they don’t start companies. We didn’t have friends whose parents had companies. So I think more founders of color, more women founders — it’s so important to see that in action and to have people at the table who not only are there but who have a voice and are decision makers. That’s a great place to start — and giving more people opportunities. I want [Saysh] to be a place where women and women of color can grow their careers. Obviously, there’s a lot to be done, but I just think about these as things we can do.”
Since its official launch in 2021, the brand owner has introduced the Saysh One, Two, the Felix Runner, and the Evelyn Runner, with each shoe marking a different moment in her footwear journey.
“What I’ve realized is that each style has grown with me—and taught me something in the process,” Felix told FN in an interview in April 2025. “The Saysh One taught me what it meant to start, to step out with purpose even when things were uncertain. The Felix Runner reminded me I could still push myself and perform at a high level, even after everything I’d gone through. And the Evelyn has shown me that ease, comfort, and support aren’t luxuries—they’re necessities.”
As for her business ventures, Felix is staying the course. While Saysh’s social media has been quiet for the past few months, the sprinter maintained in her Time interview that she is “plenty busy” with the women’s footwear brand and Always Alpha, a sports management agency she co-founded along with her brother Wes Felix and sports executive Cosette Chaput aimed at getting female athletes better deals and representation.
FN has reached out to Saysh to learn more about what’s next for the brand, but in her most recent interview in 2025, Felix noted that the company is standing strong. “Our motto is perseverance and strength—and right now, those qualities are more relevant than ever,” Felix said at the time. “We’re navigating the storm and standing strong in it, united.”