The countdown to the Olympic Games LA28 is turning into a roll call of Olympic royalty.
Allyson Felix has added her name to the list. The most decorated woman in Olympic athletics history is coming back at 40, drawn in by a home Games in Los Angeles.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime homecoming,” Felix said in announcing her return. “And it is the only thing powerful enough to pull me back.”
Felix had retired in 2022 following a home World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with 11 Olympic medals, seven of them gold.
She will be 42 when LA28 opens, and Felix knows more individual glory may not be in the cards.
Instead, she is targeting a place in Team USA’s relay pool.
“I know, at 40, I am not at my peak,” she said. “I have no illusions about that.”
She is not alone in seeking more Olympic glory.
Max Whitlock is back, too.
Team GB’s most successful artistic gymnast reversed the retirement he announced following Paris 2024, telling the BBC that ending his career where he did wasn’t sitting right.
“I’m officially back, I’m a gymnast again, and that feels crazy,” Whitlock said. “I want to make it to my fifth Olympic Games.”
The three-time Olympic champion, who owns six Olympic medals in all, will be 35 in Los Angeles, with pommel horse, his specialty event, likeliest him to carry him there.
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