USA athletics legend Allyson Felix took to the track for the final time on Friday to help her nation win bronze in the 4 x 400m relay at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene.
The 36-year-old announced back in April that she would retire at the end of the season, but not before winning her 19th World Championship medal in front of the home crowd in Oregon.
Felix teamed up with Elija Godwin, Vernon Norwood and Kennedy Simon in the mixed event, and the USA clinched the final spot on the podium with a time of 3:10.16.
The Netherlands just pipped the USA to the silver medal with a time of 3:09.90 - a national best - while the Dominican Republic took the world title with a world leading time of 3:09.82.
Felix retires from the sport having collected a staggering 19 medals at the World Championships - 13 of them gold - and she also won 11 medals at the Olympic Games.
The Los Angeles-born athlete has seven Olympic gold medals to her name, including the 200m at London 2012 and the 4 x 400m relay at last year's Tokyo Games.
Felix's achievements were lauded by former Olympic champion Michael Johnson, who told the BBC: "It was amazing to watch Allyson over the years.
"I think the thing about her career that has been most impressive is just the longevity. Making the US team is very difficult, even just making a relay team, and she has made five Olympic teams, eight World Championship teams, and that's unheard of."
11 Olympic medals ✅
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 15, 2022
18 world championship medals ✅
Most decorated female track and field athlete in history ✅
20 years of incredible memories ✅
Today, Allyson Felix bids farewell to professional competition. We will miss you on the track, @allysonfelix! 🤗 pic.twitter.com/UOzCDQ2dLQ
Felix is by far the most successful female athlete at the World Championships and sits eight medals clear of closest challenger Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who has 11 to her name.
The American's 11 Olympic medals in athletics is also the second-best tally ever in the sport, only behind the 12 won by Finland's Paavo Nurmi.
Elsewhere on day one of the 2022 World Athletics Championships, there was mixed relay disappointment for Great Britain, who finished sixth in their heat and failed to make the final.
However, Laura Muir and Katie Snowden will both be competing in the 1500m semi-finals after progressing through their heats, with the former finishing second with a time of 4:07.53 as Ethiopia's Herut Meshesha (4:07.05) crossed the line first.
Snowden was up in heat two and took the 10th and final qualification spot in that race with 4:06.92, but Melissa Courtney-Bryant posted a time of 4:09.07 in heat three and was eliminated.
"It's always a bit nerve-wracking the rounds, you want to think about the final but you've got to get there first," Olympic silver medallist Muir told BBC Sport after her heat.
"It's hard at this level, the strength in depth is really good. I was aware there were quite a few of us round there at the end, so I just wanted to stay out of trouble and save as much energy as possible."
Zharnel Hughes won British bronze with 9.97 last month and posted an identical time to finish second in his 100m heat and make the semi-finals, but Reece Prescod (10.15) bowed out.
Ben Knapton
