Bahamian athlete Shaunae Miller showed the world just how determined she was to win a gold medal with her stunning performance in the Women’s 400m final which saw her “dive” over the finish line. Miller led the race coming into the home straight, but Felix was breathing down her neck as the race closed in to the final 100 metres.
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Just when it was nearly certain that Felix would win the game, Miller lunged face-first over the finish line, breaking the plane just 0.07 seconds before Felix and landing face down. A fellow native of the Bahamas, five-time Olympian Debbie Ferguson, was the last current or former competitor from the Georgia women’s team to win a gold medal (4x100m relay, 2000).
Felix, who won silver in the race, told Reuters she was disappointed to have missed out on the gold for the 400-meter. Miller’s victory in this event gave the sprinter her first Olympic medal.
The seventh medal makes her the most decorated female track athlete in the USA’s Olympic history, breaking her tie with Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Miller won in 49.44 seconds and had scrapes and bruises.
Miller finished the race with a personal best time of 49.44, to Felix’s 49.51.
“I don’t know”, she said. That year, she only competed in the qualifying round. I didn’t really have too many thoughts about that.
De Oliveira claimed that he always finishes races that way, and it even saw him leave the track with broken ribs while competing in China.
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“I know it’s an accomplishment when I’m looking back but tonight the goal was to win and I fell short of that”, she explained. “My mind went completely blank and the next thing I was on the floor”. In 2008, American runner David Neville won bronze with a dive in the 400m in Beijing.
