Oregon 2022: America's most decorated sprinter Allyson Felix bows out with a bronze medal

Bengaluru, July 17: America's track queen heard the roar of a World Championships home crowd for the first and last time on the opening day of Oregon 2022 as the 36-year-old ended her glittering track and field career with a bonze medal in the 4x400M mixed relay event.

While a bronze may not have been the perfect way to end her track and field career, Felix said it was more important to embrace the journey.

Felix and her US team-mates -- Elija Godwin, Vernon Norwood and Kennedy Simon -- were left on the bottom step of the podium in Oregon after being caught down the home stretch by the Dominican Republic and the Netherlands.

There were many empty seats at Hayward Field in Eugene, but the fans let Felix know they were behind her every step of the way when she took the baton one last time.

The once-shy teenager is now an outspoken advocate for women and moms both in and out of sports. Much of that stemmed from becoming a mom, then fighting, and eventually leaving, Nike, which cut her salary while she was pregnant.

Felix also had an emergency C-section eight weeks short of her due date. It left both her and her daughter, Cammy, fighting for survival in a hospital room. Any running at all, let alone medals to go with it, feel like a bonus at this point.

Felix was entered only in the mixed relay after failing to qualify for Oregon 2022 in an individual race and at the end she was happy.

19th medal

"It's really cool to have it at home," said Felix, who ran the second leg and earned her 19th medal at the marquee event of World Athletics (WA).

"It had always been something I was a little envious when you have an athlete from the home crowd and you hear that roar. And tonight it was cool because we got that," she added.

Long journey

Felix won the first of her 11 Olympic medals as an 18-year-old at the 2004 Athens Games when she picked up a 200M silver.

She brightened her Olympic career by winning 400M bronze and 4x400M relay gold at Tokyo Olympics last year, becoming the most decorated woman in the history of the sport.

Similar emotion

Some might say a bronze medal feels like a letdown for the most decorated sprinter in US history. Others, though, including Felix herself, compare it to the bronze she won in the women's 400M at Tokyo 2020 -- a medal she ranks as one of her most cherished triumphs.

"It's a similar emotion," Felix said. "The last couple of years, I've stepped outside of just the clock and the medals, and I never would have imagined that would have been a place where I would come to," she added.

Adios champ!

Never mind, the American ended up with just a bronze, but for 15sec, at Oregon 2022, Felix was sprinting alone in the sunshine, cruising past the stands and far ahead of the field down the backstretch.

It was the opening night's last medal that everyone at Hayward Field will remember. Felix smiled widely as WA President Sebastian Coe hung the bronze around her neck. Adios champion!