Allyson Felix, Phyllis Francis earn gold again with U.S. relay win at world track championships

Allyson Felix earned a second gold medal on Sunday and highlighted the overwhelming performance of the United States at the 10-day world championships.

In doing so, Felix made sure she became the most decorated athlete in the history of the event — and that includes Usain Bolt.

Felix won gold in the 1,600-meter relay a day after winning the same color medal in the 400 relay. She also earned a bronze medal in the 400-meter race to give her 16 in her career. Bolt finished his career with 14.

“It’s an honor to run in the relay for Team USA,” said Felix, who won her first medals at the 2005 worlds in Helsinki.

Besides Felix, 400 champion Phyllis Francis also won a second gold medal as part of the American relay team.

In a world championship of upsets right up to the last event, Trinidad and Tobago beat the United States in the men’s 1,600, producing only a little dent in an all-powerful performance.

Lalonde Gordon stayed in the slipstream of Fred Kerley for most of the last lap but then pushed past the American to win in 2:58.12 seconds. The U.S. team was second in 2:58.61. Britain took bronze in 2:59.00.

The United States had not lost at the world championships since 2003, but the Americans did lose in the Olympic final at the 2012 London Games in the same stadium.

The Americans finished with 30 medals, 10 of them gold. That was only one short of the overall record held by East Germany.

Kenya was the only other team to break into double figures with 11 medals overall.

In other events during the final day of the world championships:

-- Elijah Manangoi led a 1-2 Kenyan finish in the 1,500 meters at the world championships. Manangoi beat teammate Timothy Cheruiyot for gold. Filip Ingebrigtsen of Norway took bronze. Three Kenyans were leading with two laps to go but three-time world champion Asbel Kiprop could not sustain the pace and fell back. Manangoi won in 3 minutes 33.61 seconds, .38 seconds ahead of Cheruiyot. Ingebrigtsen took third in 3:34.53.

-- Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar won the world high jump title with a perfect series of jumps, clearing 2.35 meters without a miss. Ilya Ivanyuk of Russia, competing as a neutral athlete because of his country’s doping suspension, took silver with a jump of 2.32 meters. Majd Eddin Ghazal of Syria got bronze jumping 2.29 and beating Edgar Rivera on a countback.

-- Two-time Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic won the discus at the world championships with a throw of 70.31 meters, well ahead of silver medalist Dani Stevens of Australia. Stevens set a continental record with a throw of 69.64 meters. Melina Robert-Michon of France took bronze with a toss of 66.21.Perkovic also won gold at the 2013 worlds in Moscow.

-- Caster Semenya won her third world title in the 800 meters in 1:55.16, using her finishing kick to sweep past the competition in the finishing straight and win with ease over Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi. Ajee Wilson took bronze and gave the United States its 28th medal of the championships, matching its all-time record. Semenya won Olympic gold on the same track five years ago.

-- Hellen Obiri of Kenya ran away from favorite Almaz Ayana with 250 meters to go to win the 5,000-meter race at the world championships and deny the Ethiopian a long-distance double. Obiri got her final kick going and left Ayana behind, winning in 14:34.6 seconds. After shattering the opposition to win the 10,000, Ayana could never shake her Kenyan opponent and finished 5.49 seconds behind. Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands took bronze in 14:42.73.

-- Eider Arevalo won gold in the men’s 20-kilometer walk at the world championships. The Colombian won the race in 1:18:53. He beat 18-year-old Sergei Shirobokov of Russia by only two seconds. Caio Bonfim of Brazil was third in 1:19:04.

-- Yang Jiayu of China won the women’s 20-kilometer walk at the world championships. Yang finished in a personal best 1:26:18 on the two-kilometer loop in central London, only 1 second ahead of Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez of Mexico. Antonella Palmisano of Italy was third in 1:26:36. Lyu Xiuzhi had been in line for bronze, but the Chinese walker was disqualified with about 50 meters to go.

-- Ines Henriques of Portugal set a world record while winning the first women’s 50-kilometer walk at the world championships. Henriques bettered her own record by winning in 4:05:56 on the two-kilometer loop in central London. She set the previous record of 4:08:26 earlier this year. Yin Hang was second in 4:08:58, followed by Chinese teammate Yang Shuqing in 4:20:49.

-- Yohann Diniz of France won the men’s 50-kilometer walk at the world championships. The three-time European champion won in 3:33:12 on the two-kilometer loop in central London. At 39, Diniz is the oldest man to win a gold medal at the world championships. The Frenchman’s time was the second fastest in history. Diniz also set the world record of 3:32:33 in 2014. Hirooki Arai was second in 3:41:17, two seconds ahead of Japanese teammate Kai Kobayashi in third.