Allyson Felix shatters Usain Bolt's world record on comeback after giving birth to her daughter

In a historic moment, USA's Allyson Felix broke one of Usain Bolt's records to reign supreme as the athlete to win the maximum number of golds in a world championship. She won her 12th gold medal on September 30, more than anyone else and one above Bolt, as she sprinted to the finish line looking more fierce than ever on the mixed-gender 4x400m relay team at the World Championships in Doha on September 29.

This is her first race after she gave birth to her daughter in November 2018. "Humbled," she wrote on Twitter, reacting to the record. 

The mama even dedicated her win to other mothers out there, posting a photo with the fastest woman in the world, athlete Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Fraser-Pryce also grabbed the crown in the 100-m event in Doha, two years after giving birth to her son, Zyon. 

Felix, who is already a popular athlete and is decorated in the game, had a difficult pregnancy. In a piece on ESPN, she had revealed that her baby had changed the way she looked at life - to a point where even if it meant she would never run again, she wouldn't regret it. "It's amazing how quickly your priorities change in moments like this. At that point, the only thing I cared about was that my daughter, Camryn, was OK. I didn't care if I ever ran track again," she said. 

Felix struggled with preeclampsia, which is a condition during pregnancy of high blood pressure in women who have never had high blood pressure before. It would endanger her daughter if she didn't have emergency surgery within 48 hours. She had a C-section at 32 weeks and gave birth to her daughter and even though she barely got to see her that day, she knew she would risk it all for her.

For an athlete, pregnancy can be daunting and Flex dealt with that too. She opened up about the experience of sharing her emotional turmoil. "I was putting other people's needs and expectations of me ahead of my own. I was doing things because I felt like I was supposed to, rather than what I wanted to. It felt like ticking off boxes on a checklist rather than living my life. Having a child felt like I'd be risking my career and disappointing everyone who expected me to always put running first," she wrote. 

Her fears were palpable back then and she had wondered if she will make the Olympic team for the fifth time. "I'm gonna know that I fought, that I was determined, and that I gave it my absolute all. And if it doesn't end up the way I imagined in my head, it'll be OK. I just have to go for it, because that's just simply who we are now."