Felix says her goodbye to worlds with a bronze
Never mind that she got passed at the end of her last sprint around the track. Or ended up with a bronze medal instead of gold.
For 15 memorable seconds Friday night at the world championships in Eugene, Ore., Allyson Felix was sprinting alone in the sunshine, cruising far ahead of the field down the backstretch. Her arms were pumping and knees were kicking high with that nearperfect form that can belong to only her.
The L.A. Baptist High graduate is 36 now. So it was no huge shock that a runner 11 years her junior, Marileidy Paulino of the winning Dominican Republic team, eventually reeled her in. No big shame that the U.S., saving the rest of its vaunted star power for big races over the next nine days of this meet, finished third, also behind the Netherlands.
It still equaled Felix’s 19th medal at world championships, extending a record she already held. Adding it to the 11 she’s won at the Olympics, she’ll end her career with an even 30 at her sport’s biggest events.
The meet’s first medals came in the 20-kilometer race walk, in which Kimberly Garcia won Peru’s first medal at the worlds in a time of 1 hour 26 minutes 28 seconds. Toshikazu Yamanishi of Japan successfully defended his title in 1:19.07. But it was the night’s last medals that everyone at Hayward Field will remember.
Felix smiled as World Athletics president Sebastian Coe hung the bronze around her neck. Felix stood straight as the Dominican Republic’s national anthem played. Then, moments later, she exited through the ramp, leaving the big stage for the last time.
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