Felix’s World Record Unlikely to Be Ratified

Allyson Felix bettered the world junior (19 and under) record in the women’s 200 meters when she ran 22.11 seconds to win the Banamex Grand Prix track and field meet at Mexico City on May 3, but it appears unlikely that her time will be ratified as a record by the IAAF because she did not undergo a drug test afterward.

The IAAF, the world governing body of track and field, stipulates that for a world record performance to be ratified, the athlete must be tested for drugs or banned performance-enhancing substances within an hour of the competition.

Felix, who graduated from Los Angeles Baptist High in North Hills last month, was credited with setting a world junior record in Mexico City when her time bettered the previous best of 22.19 set by Natalya Bochina of the then-Soviet Union in 1980. But Felix found out that her time probably would not be accepted as a record when a reporter asked her about it at a news conference before a meet in Paris on July 4.

“I thought they were joking or something, but they weren’t,” said Felix, 17. “It’s definitely something that’s a little disappointing, but I’m just trying to focus on the rest of the season.”

Felix’s 22.11 is expected to be ratified as a U.S. junior record when USA Track & Field meets for its annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C., on Dec. 3-6.