Lynna Irby not running 1,600-meter relay prelims brought Allyson Felix out of retirement

Lynna Irby’s decision not to run prelims of the women’s 1,600-meter relay at the World Championships influenced Allyson Felix to come out of retirement.

Irby, a 23-year-old Pike High graduate, almost certainly gave up a gold medal because the United States will be heavily favored in the final Sunday, when the 10-day track and field meet wraps up at Eugene, Ore.

She did run prelims at last year’s Tokyo Olympics and came away with gold after Team USA won the final. Prelim runners earn the same medals as those in the final.

Irby was 12^th overall in Wednesday’s semifinals of the 400 meters in 51.00, failing to advance to Friday’s final.

“I want to perform at my best on a world stage, not be stifled in any way,” she told IndyStar in a text message. “Team USA looked great through the heats!”

The foursome of Talitha Diggs (51.01), Felix (50.61), Kaylin Whitney (51.01) and Jaide Stepter (50.75) ran the fastest semifinal of 3:23.38 Saturday.

An entirely different four could run the final in a lineup sure to include Sydney McLaughlin, who set a world record of 50.68 in the 400 hurdles Friday night. It was her fourth world record in 13 months, and she has lowered it by 1.48 seconds in that span.

The 36-year-old Felix said she was at her favorite Los Angeles café, ordering hot wings and a root beer float, when a USA Track & Field representative called to ask if she could run.

“I jumped on the plane, and here we go,” she said. “It is really cool, I did not expect it to happen. But I am always up to run with this team. All of us ran pretty hard to put our team in a position for tomorrow.

“This is really special. It feels so nice to come out and run here at home. For my last big race, I am really having fun.”

Felix thought she was retired after a third place in the mixed relay increased her total to 19 World Championships medals, extending her own record. She has 11 medals from Olympic Games.

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She was part of the gold-winning foursome at Tokyo along with McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad and Athing Mu. Felix is not expected to run the final.

Irby was third in the 400 meters at the USA Championships, beating Felix (sixth), Stepter (seventh) and Whitney (eighth). Irby is scheduled to race again next month’s North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships in the Bahamas.

Elsewhere Saturday, Purdue graduate Devynne Charlton advanced by finishing second in her heat of the 100 hurdles in 12.69. Semifinals and final are Sunday. She was a silver medalist at the World Indoor Championships and finished sixth at the Tokyo Olympics.

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Allyson Felix runs 1,600-meter relay prelim after Lynna Irby bows out