2028 Olympics: Allyson Felix, seven-time Olympic gold medalist in track and field, announces comeback at age 40

2028 Olympics: Allyson Felix, seven-time Olympic gold medalist in track and field, announces comeback at age 40

The most decorated female athlete in Olympics track and field history is ready for one more appearance in the Olympics. Allyson Felix is making a comeback in hopes of running in front of her hometown crowd at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, she told Time.

Felix, who competed in five different Olympics, is hoping to make it one more. Despite her age — she’ll be 42 when the 2028 Olympics take place — Felix said she felt inspired by the success she’s seen over-40 athletes — like Tom Brady, LeBron James and Lindsey Vonn — experience in recent years. Their excellence convinced Felix to seriously train for one more shot at Olympic glory.

She also said she wanted to break some barriers and prove women in their 40s can still do “the big, bold thing,” per Time.

“So many of us have been told not to do the big, bold thing,” Felix tells TIME in her first interview announcing her comeback. “You know, at this age, I should probably be staying home and taking care of my kids, doing all that. And just, why not? Let's flip it on its head. Let's go after the thing. Let's be vulnerable.”

If Felix were to make the team, it would be a historic feat. No American sprinter has ever reached the Olympics in their 40s.

But Felix is far from an ordinary athlete. Over her Olympic career, Felix won a total of 11 medals, seven of which were gold. She first burst onto the scene in Athens in 2004, winning a silver medal in the 200 m. She then won multiple medals in Beijing, London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo before calling it a career.

Her best Olympic performance of that bunch came in London, where she took home the gold in the 200 m, the 4 × 100 m relay and the 4 × 400 m relay.

Felix doesn’t have anything left to accomplish in the sport. She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2025 and is part of the International Olympic Committee’s Athlete’s Commission and on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Board of Directors.

Despite those accomplishments, Felix wants to give it one more shot.

While Felix came to a decision to return to competitive running last year, she won’t start seriously training for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics until October. Felix will have to take part in certified events if she hopes to make the Olympic team, and is expected to do that at some point in 2027.

Even if she doesn’t make the team, Felix said she plans to be at the 2028 Olympics with her kids, cheering on Team USA.