No, that’s no error.
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But Miller – runner-up to Felix at last year’s World Championships – was at a loss to explain her actions at a post-race news conference.
American sprinter Allyson Felix seemingly had the gold medal wrapped up in the women’s 400-meter final on Monday night in Rio de Janeiro.
The 22-year-old Miller finished with a time of 49.44 seconds while Felix, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, took home the silver with a final time of 49.51 seconds.
Miller crossed the end mark at 49.44 seconds, whereas Felix caught up at 49.51.
”This is the moment I have been waiting for”, Miller said. “My mind just went blank”, Miller said.
Instead, Felix was simply trying to do her best to smile through the pain of the stinging loss. And by picking up her seventh Olympic medal, she passed Jackie Joyner-Kersee to become the United States’ most decorated female track and field athlete ever.
While many are upset with her winning this way, others feel that it was not against the rule as she did technically cross the line first and that she should instead be applauded for having such determination.
According to NBC, the rules don’t specify how the sprinter must cross the line, stating, “The first athlete whose torso … reaches the vertical plane of the closest edge of the finish line is the victor”. Track coaches rarely teach the move, but they don’t prohibit it either.
Shaunae Miller was evidently determined to win the gold medal, even if that meant diving across the finish line.
Felix told the Today show that she was “not too used to seeing” a dive like that in a race.
“My body is kind of numb”, she said. She’ll get another shot at gold (and a little redemption?) in the 4×400 relay this weekend.
“I just really wanted it”, Felix said.
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“I wasn’t quite sure who’d won, you never are when it’s that close”.
