Allyson Felix's Dignified Finish Sets Up a Promising Future for U.S. Women's Track

TOKYO — With Olympic history only four laps away, U.S. track officials looked at one final opportunity for Allyson Felix to win an 11^th medal and made the only appropriate decision. They would maximize her chances. They would assemble a 4x400-meter dream team. They would give her the sendoff she deserved, the medal that would break her tie with Carl Lewis, while leaning into the symbolism like a sprinter at the finish line.

None of the women chosen would say afterward exactly when they found out, only that they were “honored” and “thrilled” and “aware” of what it meant the moment that they did.