Wilson wins gold with relay team

Britton Wilson, of the United States, wins in a heat during the women's 400-meter hurdles run at the World Athletics Championships on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Britton Wilson is bringing a World Championships gold medal back to Arkansas.

Wilson, a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, ran the third leg on the U.S. women’s 1,600-meter relay team that capped the World Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday in Eugene, Ore., by winning in 3 minutes, 17.79 seconds.

Wilson, who finished fifth in the 400-meter hurdles final on Friday, ran 49.39 on her relay leg. It was the second-fastest time on the U.S. team after the 47.91 anchor leg by Sydney McLaughlin, the gold medalist in the 400-meter hurdles.

Talitha Diggs (50.50) and Abby Steiner (49.99) ran the first two legs for the U.S.

Steiner gave the U.S. a small advantage on the second leg, then Wilson — the NCAA champion in the 400-meter hurdles running on the same Hayward Field track as she did at the World Championships — extended the lead before handing off to McLaughlin.

Jamaica finished second in 3:20.74 and Great Britain third in 3:22.64.

Arkansas junior Ayden Owens-Delerme, competing for Puerto Rico, finished fourth in the decathlon with 8,532 points.

Owens-Delerme ran a personal-best 4:13.02 to win the 1,500 meters and broke his own Puerto Rican national record for points. His previous record was 8,528 points earlier this season at the Mount San Antonio College Relays in Walnut, Calif.

France’s Kevin Mayer won his second World Championships decathlon title with 8,816 points with Canada’s Pierce LePage taking second (8,701) and Zachery Ziemek of the U.S. third (8,676).

Canada’s Damian Warner, the reigning Olympic champion, suffered a hamstring injury in the 400 meters – which Owens-Delerme won in a personal-best 45.07 – Sunday and withdrew from the competition.

Owens-Delerme, who won the NCAA heptathlon and decathlon titles this year, began Sunday’s events by running 13.88 in the 110-meter hurdles to maintain the lead he held after the first day.

In other events Sunday, Owens-Delerme threw the discus 138-11, cleared 14-9 in the pole vault and threw the javelin 167-3.

Cindy Sember, an All-American at Michigan who trains in Fayetteville and competes for Great Britain, finished fifth in the 110-meter hurdle final in a wind-aided 12.38. In the semifinals run earlier Sunday, she set a British record by running 12.50.