Dominican Republic, Netherlands deny Allyson Felix a golden goodbye

Allyson Felix was denied a golden goodbye at the World Championships after the US took bronze behind the Dominican Republic and the Netherlands in a spectacular 4x400m mixed relay in Eugene, Oregon, on Friday.

The home crowd had roared with delight as seven-time Olympic gold medallist Felix took the baton for the second leg though the 36-year-old, running in her final major championship race, appeared to tire down the stretch after a strong start.

The US still managed to open a massive gap at the final changeover and looked well set for victory before Dominican anchor Fiordaliza Cofil reeled in Kennedy Simon down the home stretch to win gold and improve on their Tokyo silver.

“We have been training hard for this moment so I knew I could catch her,” Cofil said of her battle with Simon.

“Allyson Felix is a legend and I am happy to be in the final with her.”

Netherlands anchor Femke Bol produced an extraordinary effort down the home straight to come from 30m back and overtake Simon for silver, as the 2019 champions were forced to settle for bronze.

Felix embraced her teammates at the finish, 18 years after she picked up her first Olympic medal at the 2004 Athens Games, as the home crowd gave the most decorated woman in the sport a warm send-off into retirement.

“It was very special to be able to run in front of a home crowd for my last race,” said Felix.

“My daughter was in the stands. It was a night I will cherish.”

While it was not the spot on the podium she had hoped for, the grand dame of American track was all smiles, draped in the US flag as she took in the scene at Hayward Field.

“I've had such good memories. I know it is time and these guys will carry it on into the future,” she said.

“I am at peace stepping into this next stage and have tremendous gratitude for this sport.”

The race capped the opening day of action in Eugene, where organisers failed to fill the stands for the first World Championships on US soil as they look to build a bigger American fan base for the sport.

“Crowds tonight disappointing,” American four-times Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson tweeted. “This is not the ideal situation. Last race for Allyson Felix, icon of the sport and the stadium isn’t full?”

Wayne Snyman was the best-performing of SA's athletes, finishing 12th out of a field of 44 in the men's 20km race walk, registering a time of 1 hr 21 min 23 sec. 

Akani Simbine advanced past the 100m heats, but only as the fastest loser after crossing the line finishing fourth in a race won by Botswana youngster Letsile Tebogo in a 9.94 world under-20 record. Jamaican veteran Yohan Blake and Canada's Aaron Brown were second and third, followed by the South African in 10.07.

Late arrivals Gift Leotlela and Clarence Munyai were unable to advance. The three men's long-jumpers, including 2017 world championship bronze medallist Ruswahl Samaai, were unable to progress beyond the qualifying stage, as was Ischke Senekal in the women's shot put. 

SA's mixed 4x400m relay team didn't make it to the start line of the heats, presumably a casualty of the visa delay that saw several athletes arriving only late Thursday night and early Friday morning. 

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