But if Felix had taken the plunge, we may just be talking about how she’s the first USA woman in track history to win five gold medals instead of how she was robbed by a wild finish.
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A controversial dive for gold earned Shaunae Miller 400m gold, but the Bahamian says her mind went blank.
Miller told Today the dive left her with “some cuts and bruises, a few burns… it hurts”. “It happens every now and then but it’s not too common”, she said.
Finally, what seemed a stumble from Miller (48.6s) turned into a gold-medal winning dive. “The only thing I was thinking was the gold medal”.
It’s such an fantastic feeling.
Miller finished her lap around the track in a personal best time of 49.44 seconds.
Miller was judged first across the line.
A four-time gold medalist, Felix had represented her country proudly on the podium in Athens, Beijing and London. Miller literally dived for the finish line as Felix was about to step in and snatch the gold. “Coming home, that’s when I tried to give all I had”.
I’m amazed, and it looks like I’m not the only one who’s more than a little impressed by Shaunae Miller’s win-at-all-costs mentality. Miller beat Felix by 0.07 of a second.
NBC reported that she laid on the track for 20 minutes after the race, putting her disappointment on full display. “I don’t think I ever quite had a year this tough”, she added. I feel emotionally and physically drained at this moment. That year, she only competed in the qualifying round.
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.
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“I just kept on telling myself to keep on chipping away at the gap, and once I got my position, all I wanted was to hold it”, Coburn, 25, told reporters.
