What This Olympian’s Pastor Dad Taught Her About Serving Others

Published: May 5, 2026

By Mallory Mattingly

Olympian Allyson Felix and her brother, Wes, couldn’t be more grateful for their parents and how they raised the siblings.

“So our dad is a pastor, so, yeah, we grew up as PKs [pastor’s kids],” Allyson said on a podcast. “Our mom was an elementary school teacher. She taught third grade, and so, yeah, they were very much people of service, and, you know, invested in people. And we always grew up hearing, you know, ‘Your parents are so amazing. They’ve done so much for us.’ I think they are really great examples of what hard work and passion looked like, and they really gave us, you know, a beautiful upbringing.”

Wes added, “I always think of, you know, especially our dad. His dad passed away when he was 8, so he had such a different life than we did, but where he grew up, it was two streets over from where we grew up, so literally, exact same neighborhood, you know, just two streets over.”

Wes and Allyson understand the blessing of having both parents in their lives and are grateful for the protection they provided.

“And then his dad passed when he was 8, so then they had to leave that neighborhood, and they had to go out, just kind of into LA, and so to get to experience [of] what it was like to have both parents there and alive,” Wes continued. “And, you know, I think we got to experience things that for him were his hopes for us. But also, he was so protective, because I think he knew how fragile all of it was. And for us, growing up in LA in the ’80s and ’90s, it was like a war zone there. And you know, we lived in this beautiful little pocket, this gated little pocket, but it was still right in the middle.”

The safety and security allowed the siblings to pursue their dreams. In fact, Allyson just announced that she plans to return to the Olympic stage for Los Angeles 2028.

“So many of us have been told not to do the big, bold thing,” she told TIME Magazine of returning to the track at 42. “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.”

In a separate Instagram post, the athlete shared, “In a million years…I never thought I’d return. And somehow here I am – reaching for LA 2028, on my own terms. I’m not here trying to relive who I was. I’m deeply proud of everything I’ve done. This is something different – a question that keeps pulling me in. What is still humanly possible at this age?”

“The world tells women that after 40, we should slow down, be smaller, quieter and satisfied. But this is my love story with LA – the city that raised me…calling me to return to myself in a new way,” she added. “It’s scary. It’s exciting. The most vulnerable I’ve ever been. And I don’t know how it ends.”