Allyson Felix announces comeback bid for LA Games at 40
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 28.04.26. | 17:33
She reached the height of her running powers during the London Games, notching gold in the 200m, the 4×100m relay and 4×400m relay
Allyson Felix, the most decorated female track and field Olympian of all time, wants one more crack at adding more medals to her illustrious career.
The 40-year-old says she will be making a comeback in hopes of running in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, which will be hosted in her home city.
Welcome back to the world stage @allysonfelix. 👑 From Crenshaw to the Coliseum—LA is waiting for you ☀️ pic.twitter.com/zkf5dG4h29
— LA28 (@LA28) April 27, 2026
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“So many of us have been told not to do the big, bold thing,” she says. “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.”
Felix will be 42 when the Olympics begin in L.A., but the winner of 11 Olympic medals, including seven golds, across five different Games has seen others past 40 years old do what many consider impossible. Tom Brady, LeBron James and Lindsey Vonn were mentioned by Felix during the interview.
She wants to push past the age barrier, believing she can get one last shot at Olympic glory.
If Felix were to make the Olympic team at 42, she would be the first American sprinter to ever reach the Games in their 40s. And considering her speciality is sprinting, it will be quite the feat with the talent pool she would be going up against.
Sha’Carri Richardson, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Gabby Thomas, and more will be vying for spots on the Olympic team come 2028.
But that is clearly not going to deter Felix, who many of these women likely looked up to since she burst onto the Olympic scene in Athens in 2004.
Felix won silver that year in the 200m sprint. Then, during the 2008 Games in Beijing, she won gold with the 4×400m relay team, while taking home silver in the 200m sprint.
Felix reached the height of her running powers during the London Games, notching gold in the 200m, the 4×100m relay and 4×400m relay. She was a part of the team in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo before announcing her retirement following the 2022 track season.
Since then, Felix was inducted into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2025, while serving as part of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission as well as the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Board of Directors.
She did return to competitive running last year, but she said she will seriously begin training for an Olympic comeback in October.
If Felix does not make the team in the end, she said she will be present at the 2028 LA Games with her children to cheer on those representing the Stars and Stripes.