Olympics: Why Allyson Felix’s new track shoe brand matters

“I was told to know my place. That runners should just run, that it’s just business.”

Someone at Nike looked at Allyson Felix, the most decorated woman in the storied history of American track and field, and told her to know her place.

Felix had appeared in many promotions for Nike during her time with the company, had worn its familiar swoosh logo on her racing tops, shorts, her compression shin sleeves and her spikes as she racked up an unprecedented number of medals at global meets.

But when Felix spoke up, when she pushed back to get a structure in place to guarantee that other female Nike athletes wouldn’t essentially be penalized for pregnancy, the company told her to know her place.

It’s familiar to so many women who have tried to forge a new path, who have challenged the status quo, who have fought the misogyny and misogynoir (the term for the discrimination that Black women endure) so many of us face.

Felix hasn’t forgotten the blithe dismissal. She’s leaning into it, and on Wednesday she made it clear that her “place” is wherever she wants it to be.

Including in the incredibly competitive footwear market.

This week, Felix launched Saysh, a brand of athletic footwear for women, by women: the women who designed and engineered the company’s first shoe, the Saysh One, are both former Nike employees. Felix, her brother and business partner Wes, and a third founder, Darren Breedveld, raised $3 million in seed money to get things started, and don’t just want to make shoes built for a woman’s foot, but also a community. Those who buy the Saysh One for $150 also get lifetime membership in the Saysh Collective, the digital subscription service that will include workout videos, conversations with Felix and others, and other perks.

On Sunday, as she drew on all of her experience and closed brilliantly over the final 50 meters to finish second in the women’s 400-meter and earn her fifth Olympic berth, Felix was wearing Saysh spikes, and will wear them on the grandest stage, in Tokyo. (Her apparel was Athleta, the woman-centered athletics brand by Gap that she signed with after her split with Nike.)

In an Instagram post announcing the brand and in a video that followed, Felix took aim at the treatment she and other female athletes have received from Nike.

In a letter to the world “and the women in it,” Felix wrote in part:

“I’ve been running my whole life. I’m good at it, and I’ve got a lot of medals to show for it.

“I was scared to stop running. I wasn’t sure I would fully know who I was without it. Like many women, I was afraid that starting a family would be a ‘death sentence’ for my career. I did it anyway. During my pregnancy, I faced a gender injustice that I couldn’t run away from. My employer did not support my maternity and my colleague’s maternity in a way that I could be proud of. I was told to know my place. That runners should just run that it’s just business.

“Instead, I spoke up. I used my voice to fight for maternal protection for female athletes. No woman should have to choose between being a professional and being a Mother. Now, because of that fight, sponsorship contracts look different for a lot of athletes.”