World Championships roundup: Felix passes baton to next generation in emotional send-off
Felix and her 4x400 mixed relay team mates were left on the bottom step of the podium in Eugene, Oregon after being caught down the home stretch by the Dominican Republic and the Netherlands.
There were many empty seats at Hayward Field but the fans let 36-year-old Felix know they were behind her every step of the way when she took the baton one last time.
"It's really cool to have it at home," said Felix, who ran the second leg.
"It had always been something I was a little envious when you have an athlete from the home crowd and you hear that roar.
"And tonight it was cool because we got that."
Felix won the first of her 11 Olympic medals as an 18-year-old at the 2004 Athens Games when she picked up a 200m silver.
She bookended her Olympic career by winning 400m bronze and 4x400m relay gold at Tokyo last year, becoming the most decorated woman in the history of the sport.
Asked what wisdom she had to offer to the next generation of athletes, Felix said: "Embrace the journey.
"When you love something this much and you have difficult moments, it can break your heart," she told reporters.
"Every defeat, every feeling of failure, it's an opportunity to get better. And I wish that I really would have known that earlier."
A final street race in Los Angeles is planned for August to close out her career.
"To hear from my fellow athletes and younger athletes - it's been an emotional day and time period of just messages and I think it's just something I never expected," said Felix.
"I'm so excited to know this sport is in such great hands."
Elsewhere, American Fred Kerley (27) blasted out a warning that he, and the springy track, are in hot form as he blasted to a 9.79 seconds victory in the World Championships 100m heats on Friday, but Olympic champion Lamont Jacobs (27) looked rusty.
Olympic silver medallist Kerley had posted the year's leading time and a personal best of 9.76 on the same track when winning the US trials last month and he looks well-equipped to surpass that in the semi-finals or final on Saturday.
Kerley's time was the fastest heat ever recorded in the 39-year history of the World Championships.
He is one of only three men, along with South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk (30) and US runner Michael Norman (24), to have broken 10 seconds in the 100m, 20 seconds in the 200m and 44 seconds in the 400m.
Italian Jacobs, the shock winner in Tokyo, has struggled with a thigh injury this year and though he equalled his season's best of 10.04 he trailed impressive Jamaican heat winner Oblique Seville (9.93).
Jacobs, who did not look comfortable crossing the line, was also shown a rare yellow card for being late to the call room.
"The stadium, the track and the atmosphere were great but I struggled in the race," he said.
"I'm not at my 100% but gave everything I had. I will go to physio to be ready for tomorrow (Saturday).
Outside the stadium, Peruvian Kimberly Garcia Leon (28) won the first gold medal of the World Championships on Friday in the 20 kilometres race walk in a time of 1:26:58, with Poland's Katarzyna Zdzieblo (25) claiming silver and China's Qieyang Shijie (31) taking bronze.
Qieyang and Garcia Leon shared a 20-second lead over the rest of the pack at the halfway mark and battled shoulder-to-shoulder through the next five kilometres under sunny, hot conditions.
But with three kilometres left to go, 28-year-old Garcia Leon pulled away from the 2012 Olympic champion, who took silver three years ago, and broke the tape before embracing a member of her team.
Qieyang and Garcia Leon shared a 20-second lead over the rest of the pack at the halfway mark and battled shoulder-to-shoulder through the next five kilometres under sunny, hot conditions.
But with three kilometres left to go, 28-year-old Garcia Leon pulled away from the 2012 Olympic champion, who took silver three years ago, and broke the tape before embracing a member of her team.
