In a field of eight runners Monday night, Felix was in lane 4 – right next to her US teammate Phyllis Francis, and two over from another teammate, Natasha Hastings. Felix, classically trained by Bobby Kersee, made a textbook lean into the finish line.
Advertisement
Felix closed in on Miller in the closing meters – but she couldn’t get ahead of her, finishing at 49.51.
It did, carrying Felix to a season-best time of 49.51 seconds.
Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson won bronze, in a time of 49.85. It is. And plenty are still upset that Miller opted to leave her feet to win a foot race.
When crossing the finish line, it’s not the hands, wrists, arms, nose or face that counts – it’s about whose torso hits the line first.
Stride for stride they ran, until the last few steps. She won the event in 2015 at worlds. Miller was considered a threat heading into Monday’s final, however.
Former American Olympian/track star Lolo Jones chimed in on Twitter after Miller’s win.
Felix was trying to win her second straight individual gold medal at the Games, but this time in the 400-meter instead of the 200, the title she claimed in 2012.
Felix, 30, came into Rio as the most decorated Team USA female athlete and now has four gold and three silver medals, with the 4×400-meter relay still to come.
According to Felix, this is going to be the final race of her Olympic career, too – a bittersweet way to go out.
At the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Track in Field in Eugene, Oregon, Felix won the 400.
The question facing Allyson Felix coming into the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was simple: Would her ankle hold up?
Two other Americans – Natasha Hastings and Phyllis Francis – finished fourth and fifth respectively in Monday night’s final.
Advertisement
Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller dives across the finish line ahead of United States’ Allyson Felix to win the gold medal in the 400 meter finals during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio.
