Felix breaks Jamaican hold on sprints at worlds

AP ^ | 08/21/2009 | RAF CASERT

[Raymann]

BERLIN – Usain Bolt got the birthday present he wanted from his teammates at the world championships on Friday, and Allyson Felix spoiled the party by ending Jamaica's sprint domination.

After the Jamaican relay team qualified for the 4x100 final without Bolt on the track, Felix glided to the finish with an elegance reminiscent of a long distance runner to win her third straight 200-meter world title.

With a raised fist and little more than a smile at the finish, Felix broke the Jamaican hold on sprinting going back to the Beijing Olympics. She held off an early charge from Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica, and once she entered the straight where her stride is at its most efficient, there was no stopping her.

[SmokingJoe]

Allyson Felix is about the smoothest runner in this here games. Watching her run is pure poetry in motion. Glad she smoked the loud mouth Jamaicans.
She;s not the only American that won in the sprints today either. LaShawn Merritt and Jeremy Wariner took the Gold and Silver in the men's 400 maters flat as well, sending the US total Gold medal tally to 6 Golds versus 5 Golds for the Jamaicans. The US now has 16 medals in all, to Jamaica's 10.