By Amy Tennery
EUGENE, Ore. (Reuters) – Dominican Republic denied the United States a golden farewell for Allyson Felix on Friday, winning a spectacular 4x400m mixed relay at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in 3:09.82.
Netherlands took silver in 3:09.90 while the United States finished with bronze in 3:10.16.
The Americans seized the early lead and the home crowd roared with delight as seven-times Olympic gold medallist Felix took the baton for the second leg but the 36-year-old, running in her final World Championships race, appeared to tire down the stretch.
The United States opened a massive gap in the final changeover but Dominican anchor Fiordaliza Cofil chased down American Kennedy Simon, who could not fend off the Dutch athlete in the final metres.
Felix embraced her team mates at the finish, 18 years since 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.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Eugene, Oregon; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
