SANTA CLARITA'S FELIX U.S.'S NEW GOLDEN GIRL WINS THIRD EVENT AT WORLD TRACK AND FIELD FINALS.Byline: KIRBY LEE Special to the Daily News OSAKA, Japan -- Allyson Felix Allyson Felix (born November 18, 1985 in Los Angeles, California) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for the United States in the 200 meters. Felix, born and raised in southern California, is also a devout Christian and is the daughter of an ordained was christened as homecoming queen as a L.A. Baptist High senior a little more than four years ago. The 21-year-old USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. student reigned over a worldwide stage in the IAAF IAAF abbr. International Amateur Athletic Federation World Championships in Athletics on Sunday night Sunday Night, later named Michelob Presents Night Music, was an NBC late-night television show which aired for two seasons between 1988 and 1990 as a showcase for jazz and eclectic musical artists. . Felix ran the second leg on the United States' victorious women's 4x400-meter relay that ran 3 minutes 18.55 seconds -- the world's fastest time since 1993 -- to become only the second female to win three gold medals in a single World Championships. Felix also defended her title in the 200 in 21.81 -- the world's best since 1999 -- and won a gold medal in the 400 relay. The Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, resident matched the feat of Marita Koch Marita Koch (born February 18, 1957 in Wismar, East Germany) is a former sprint athlete. Career Her married name is Marita Koch Meier. During her career she collected a remarkable sixteen world records in outdoor sprints, as well as 14 world records in indoor of the former East Germany East Germany: see Germany. , who won gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay in the inaugural World Championships in 1983. "It's amazing. I didn't expect it coming in. It was definitely my goal," Felix said. "I wanted to take it race by race. Now that it's done. It is a tremendous blessing." Felix ran a 48.0 split for the fastest leg of the U.S. team of Dee Dee Trotter, Mary Wineberg and Sanya Richards Sanya Richards (born February 26, 1985 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a track and field athlete who competes internationally for the United States. She was a gold medalist in the 4x400m relay at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. . Felix's split is believed to be the fastest ever for a second leg in the world championships and the second fastest overall. "I just did not want to let the team down and to run a great strong leg," Felix said. "I wasn't really sure where I was, but I wanted to bring it in strong." Jamaica, which finished second in a national record 3:19.73, led after the first exchange but Felix took the lead down the backstretch back·stretch n. The part of an oval racecourse farthest from the spectators and opposite the homestretch. to establish a 10-meter lead. "I was glad to be able to get out there and run a strong first leg," Trotter said. "Allyson took it from there and basically exploded us out to the lead. From then on out, we took it easy." The lead grew to 15 meters after a third leg by Wineberg, with Richards running a controlled anchor for the victory. A rivalry between Felix and Richards has been a topic throughout the meet. After Felix's win in the 200, her agent Renaldo Nehemiah Renaldo "Skeets" Nehemiah (born March 24, 1959 in Newark, New Jersey), is an American athlete who dominated the 110 m hurdle event from 1978 until 1981. He was the world record holder and the first man to run the high hurdles in under 13 seconds. approached reporters about how insulted and motivated Felix felt because all the attention had been on Richards, the 2006 IAAF World Athlete of the Year The IAAF Athlete of the Year award is a prize that can be won by athletes participating in track and field competitions organised by the IAAF. Winners Year Men Women 1988 Carl Lewis Florence Griffith-Joyner 1989 Roger Kingdom Ana Fidelia Quirot . Nehemiah served as Richards' agent from 2003-05 before her mother took over the duties. Richards, who has struggled with injury and illness this season, downplayed any animosity. "Allyson Felix is phenomenal," Richards said. "She has proven that this year. She is fast, strong and everything. I think that we'll have good rivalries. When I am 100 percent, I'll be even a better competitor for her and it will make us both run really, really fast." The U.S. men won the 4x400 relay with a team of LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, Darrold Williamson and Jeremy Wariner timing 2:55.56 for the third-fastest time in history. The mark trails U.S. teams that ran 2:54.20 in the 1998 Goodwill Games and 2:54.29 in the 1993 World Championships. A Dominican Republic team led off by Felix Sanchez of Los Angeles, the silver medalist in the 400hurdles who attended USC and coaches at Harvard-Westlake High, was seventh in 3:03.56. The wins in the men's and women's 4x400 relays coupled with a sweep of the 4x100 on Saturday to make the U.S. the first country to win all four relays. Bernard Lagat won the 5,000 in a tactical 13:45.87 to become the first athlete to win the 1,500 and the 5,000 in the same championships. The Kenyan-born Lagat, who became a U.S. citizen in 2004, is the first American to win any medal in the event. American record holder Breaux Greer won the bronze medal in the javelin with a toss of 282 feet 2inches to become the first U.S. medalist in the event since 1983. Amy Acuff, formerly of UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , placed 12th in the women's high jump at 6-4(bul). The U.S. tied the all-time record for gold medals of 14 set in 2005 and the overall medal count of 26 set in 1991. Kenya had five gold and 13 overall, and Russia had four gold and 16 overall. dnlasports@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Allyson Felix takes the handoff from Dee Dee Trotter in the 4x400m relay. Kirby Lee/Special to the Daily News |
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