Moscow: On one side of the track in Luzhniki Stadium, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was celebrating her first major 200-metre victory with the Jamaican flag in hand and the Bob Marley song “Three Little Birds” playing over the loudspeakers.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” the song went. “‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right. Don’t worry about a thing. ‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the track, Allyson Felix, Fraser-Pryce’s US rival, had plenty of worries as she sat glumly on a gurney being wheeled out of the stadium.
The 200 has long been Felix’s race: She has won three world titles at the distance and finally won the Olympic 200 title last year in London. If she would have prevailed on Friday, she would have become the career leader at the world track and field championships with nine gold medals: one ahead of her US predecessors Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson.
But there would be no breaking the tie on an otherwise lovely evening in Moscow. Deep into the curve, as the formidable opposition accelerated, Felix, the most graceful of sprinters, suddenly began to look awkward on her feet. She lost her rhythm, grimaced, then slowed painfully to a hobble, dropping to the blue track with more than half the race left. She landed on her left side, grabbing at her upper right leg.
USA Track & Field later announced that Felix had a tear in her medial right hamstring.
Felix, a willowy 27-year-old, is not built like most sprinters, something she expressed pride in this week as she discussed her ability to show women of all shapes and sizes that sprinting success is within their reach. But she has never looked more fragile than she did as she lay in the curve, waiting for help.
Medical personnel arrived, and her brother and agent, Wes Felix, carried her off the track in his arms.
It was one of the memorable scenes of these championships, and as Felix exited the stage with presumably little chance of participating in the relays this weekend, the three medalists were understandably enjoying their success.
Fraser-Pryce, the short and powerful Jamaican, crossed the line first in 22.17 seconds, followed by Murielle AhourE of Ivory Coast in 22.32 and Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria in 22.32.
Those times were well off Felix’s career best of 21.69, but this post-Olympic year is now officially a year to forget for Felix.
“I’m extremely devastated,” Felix said in a statement. “I was really hoping to go out there and put together a great race. Now I am consulting with doctors to figure out what is going on with my right hamstring. It is a serious injury, but I don’t know exactly to what extent. I wish all my teammates the best for the rest of the meet.”
