Allyson Felix caps final appearance at track world championships with bronze medal in 4x400m mixed relay

EUGENE, Ore. — 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, 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 near-perfect form that can only belong to her.

She's 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 taken at the Olympics, she'll end her career with an even 30 at her sport's biggest events.

Much like the end of Felix's career, her last big evening on the track was about more than the race. It was a celebration of a once-in-a-lifetime athlete who came onto the scene as a shy teenager and left as an outspoken advocate for women and moms both in and out of sports.

Google got into the act. A search of her name Friday night brought up all her credentials, overlaid by animation of her sprinting across the computer screen followed by the words «Olympian. Mother. Advocate.''

All part of a fitting finale for the mother of 3-year-old Cammy, who said she's looking forward to being „normal,'' focusing on her family, and not having to get up for workouts with her famed taskmaster of a coach, Bobby Kersee.

Felix was entered only in the mixed relay after failing to qualify for the