Surprise!
Allyson Felix’s last lap wasn’t her last lap after all.
On Friday night, as day eight of the World Championships in Athletics unfolded in Eugene, Oregon, the NBC Olympics Twitter feed announced that Felix would be competing in the preliminary round of the women’s 4×400 meters relay on Saturday night.
For weeks it had been rumored that Felix’s last race on the world stage would be in the 4x400m mixed relay, which took place last week on the first night of the Championships. The 36-year-old announced in April that this would be his last competitive season.
Felix ran the second leg of the relay in the medal chase and took over in a solid 50.15 seconds; the United States won the bronze medal.
It was the 19th world medal of his illustrious career, more than any man or woman in history.
Assuming the Americans make it out of the preliminary race, the United States could have 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin and fellow long hurdles star Dalilah Muhammad in the four-woman medal race , virtually guaranteeing a medal.
Even if Felix only races the preliminaries, she will still get a medal, which means she would retire with even 20 world medals.
Preliminaries for the women’s 4x400m will begin at 8:10 p.m. on Saturday evening.
