underestimating the pain of their Black patients, ignoring symptoms and dismissing complaints.” Nike controversy The new mom furthered her maternal advocacy work in May 2019 by penning an op-ed for The New York Times, accusing her longtime sponsor Nike of refusing to guarantee salary protections for female athletes in the months following pregnancy. Her story underscored the earlier allegations made by her former Nike teammates Alysia Montaño and Kara Goucher regarding their pregnancy disputes with the sportswear company. In the article, Felix explained that after her contract ended in December 2017, she and Nike negotiated for a contract renewal. Planning to start a family in 2018, Felix asked Nike for written financial security, in case her performance yielded subpar results while recovering from childbirth; the negotiators declined after already offering a 70 percent pay cut in this contract proposal. Soon after, Felix left and signed a clothing sponsorship deal with the Gap Inc.–owned apparel company Athleta in July 2019, becoming their first sponsored athlete. Following the public controversy, Nike altered their maternal policy in August 2019, promising to not apply any performance-related salary reductions for 18 consecutive months, starting eight months before the due date. During this period, the sportswear company would also not float the possibility of termination if the athlete chooses to not race due to pregnancy. Return to competition In July 2019, Felix competed in her first race since giving birth in November 2018, finishing sixth in the 400-meter sprint at the U.S. national championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Although failing to qualify into the individual 400-meter event for the 2019 Doha World Championships, Felix's sixth-place finish still placed her in the U.S. 4 × 400 meters relay pool. In the first-ever mixed-gender 4 × 400 meters relay at the world championships, Felix competed with Michael Cherry, Wil London III, and Courtney Okolo to set a world record time of 3:09.34. Felix ran a 50.4-second split for her leg. She earned another gold medal as a runner in the preliminary heats for the U.S. women's 4 × 400 meters relay, although she was not selected to participate in the final. With her 12th and 13th world championship gold medals, Felix surpassed Usain Bolt for the most golds by any athlete in World Athletics Championships history. 2020–present Felix trained during the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim of qualifying for her fifth Olympic Games – her first as a