EUGENE, Oregon — Closing out an incredible international career that saw her compete in all 10 World Championships since 2003, Allyson Felix (Los Angeles, California/USATF Southern California) helped the U.S. foursome to bronze in the mixed 4x400m relay Friday night at Hayward Field to close out the first day of competition. It was her 19th medal in World Championships history and gave Team USATF its first medal of the meet.
Elija Godwin (Athens, Georgia/USATF Georgia) ran a very solid opening leg of 44.71 to put the U.S. ahead by a second, handing off to Felix, who sprinted around the bend and down the backstretch to try and put some distance on Olympic 400m silver medalist Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic. Felix split 50.15, but Paulino's stunning 48.47 gave her nation a .08 second edge. Vernon Norwood (Baton Rouge, Louisiana/USATF Southern) ran a very controlled third leg, his 44.40 putting the squad back in front by .64 at the final handoff to Kennedy Simon (Austin, Texas/USATF Texas Southern). Simon tried valiantly to hold the lead but was caught in the final 20m of the homestretch and her 50.90 split rounded out a 3:10.16 that fell only .34 short of victory after a 49.92 anchor leg by Fiordaliza Cofil of the Dominican Republic gave them gold in 3:09.82 and a sizzling 48.95 by Femke Bol put the Netherlands at 3:09.90 for silver.
A series of tremendous starts and relaxed sprinting carried all four Team USATF 100m men to the semifinal round. Olympic silver medalist Fred Kerley (Taylor, Texas/USATF Gulf) rocketed out of the blocks and established a huge lead almost immediately in heat two, never slowing on the way to a 9.79 that was the fastest time ever in the first round at the World Championships. Also out very quickly in the third heat, Trayvon Bromell (Jacksonville, Florida/USATF Florida) was never seriously challenged and won in 9.89 despite slowing and smiling over the final 10m. Marvin Bracy-Williams (Jacksonville, Florida/USATF Florida) won the first heat in 10.05 after bursting to a lead three steps out of the blocks. Looking around with 20 meters to go, Bracy-Williams eased up and still won by a tenth of a second. Defending champion Christian Coleman (Lexington, Kentucky/USATF Kentucky) made it four-for-four on great starts for Team USATF, speeding to the lead in heat six and then sailing through the line in 10.08 for the win.
All three Team USATF women qualified for the semifinal. Safely ensconced on the rail in second place for the first two laps of the opening heat of the women's 1,500m, USATF champion Sinclaire Johnson (Longwood, Florida/USATF Oregon) passed 800m in just over 2:14 and hit the bell in third. Recovering from a bobble, Johnson stayed safe on the final stretch and finished fourth in 4:07.68 to easily advance to the semifinal. Jostling for position with 450m remaining in heat two, Tokyo 10th-placer Elle St. Pierre (Brighton, Massachusetts/USATF New England) made a strong move heading into the final bend and did just enough to take fourth in 4:04.94 and nab a berth in the semis. With two laps to go in the final section, Cory McGee (Boulder, Colorado/USATF New England) was a clear second and in good position to move on. The fastest of the three heats saw McGee place sixth in 4:03.61.
American record holder Evan Jager (Portland, Oregon/USATF Oregon) was confident through the opening three laps of the final heat, holding second place and hurdling well. The only American ever to earn a World Championships medal in this event, Jager went to the lead halfway through the race and was at 5:09 with three laps left. Holding onto the lead with one to go, Jager yielded his position with just over 300m remaining before powering over the final water jump and cruising to second in 8:18.44 to move on automatically. Hillary Bor (Colorado Springs, Colorado/USATF Colorado) went quickly to second in the second heat and then the pace slowed a bit. Bor took the lead with six laps left and went through 800m in just over 2:15. The pace slowed again and the pack bunched up around Bor, enfolding him into third, but he then picked it up and by the penultimate lap he was right behind Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia and ahead of defending champion Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya. Hitting the bell in second, Bor was still second and battling to hold one of the auto qualifying places. On the run in, Kipruto passed Bor for second behind Girma, but Bor's third-place finish in 8:20.18 meant he secured his place in the final. Tokyo 11th-place finisher Benard Keter (Colorado Springs, Colorado/USATF Colorado) tucked in on the rail at the back of the pack in the first heat for the first two laps before moving up to the middle. With four laps to go Keter was third in a group that was still very tightly packed. He went wide with just over two laps remaining and came up on the shoulder of the leader, staying safe over the barriers. At the bell, Keter was still second with only three automatic qualifying spots available and he got swallowed up by an accelerating group and ended up seventh in 8:21.94, missing out on the final by two places.
World-leading Chase Ealey (Holman, New Mexico/USATF New Mexico) made quick work of advancing in the women's shot put with an 18.96m/62-2.5 on her first attempt. Jessica Woodard (Marlton, New Jersey/USATF Arizona) needed three throws to hit the automatic qualifying standard, going 19.08m/62-7.25 on her last throw, while Diamond League champion Maggie Ewen (Dilworth, Minnesota/USATF Minnesota) also advanced with an 18.96m/62-2.5 in round three. Tokyo Olympian and NCAA champion Adelaide Aquilla (Westlake, Ohio/USATF Lake Erie) missed out on advancing despite a best of 18.33m/60-1.75 in a competition that was the deepest ever in World Championships qualifying history.
World record holder and two-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser (Redmond, Oregon/USATF Oregon) is only missing one thing for his trophy case – a World Championships gold. He started his quest for one on his favorite facility with a monster 22.28m/73-1.25 on his first throw, the farthest qualifying round effort in meet history. Reigning world champion Joe Kovacs (Brentwood, Tennessee/USATF New York) also made it look easy with a 21.50m/70-6.5 on his first toss to exceed the automatic advancement standard. Rounding out a perfect evening for the U.S. men, Josh Awotunde (Franklinville, New Jersey/USATF New Jersey) threw 21.18m/69-6 and NCAA champion Tripp Piperi (Austin, Texas/USATF Texas Southern) went 21.03m/69-0 to advance to the final.
World Indoor champion Sandi Morris (Mableton, Georgia/USATF Arkansas), Olympic champion Katie Nageotte (Powder Springs, Georgia/USATF New York) and Gabriela Leon (Grand Rapids, Michigan/USATF Michigan) all qualified for the final after a women's pole vault qualifying round that went quicker than expected. Morris and Nageotte each took one attempt at 4.50m/14-9, clearing easily to join nine other women who also negotiated that height to move on. Leon went over 4.20m/13-9.25 and 4.35m/14-3.25 on first attempts before missing thrice at 4.50m/14-9, but earned a berth in the 15-woman final by virtue of that clean record at earlier heights.
Improving on each of his three attempts, Marquis Dendy (Ocala, Florida/USATF Florida) surpassed the automatic qualifying mark with an 8.16m/26-9.25 in the final round, one of only two men overall to earn that distinction. Also making the final was Steffin McCarter (Copperas Cove, Texas/USATF Southwestern), who had a best of 7.94m/26-0.75 in the first round to rank 11th overall. Will Williams (Jonesboro, Arkansas/USATF Arkansas) jumped 7.83m/25-8.25 and did not advance. Click here to find out how to watch. A full list of results and schedule of events can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #JourneyToGold.