On Monday night, a 400-meter race taking place at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, saw American sprinter Allyson Felix and Shaunae Miller, a runner from the Bahamas, giving one another fierce competition.
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Miller started out strong in the race, but she and Felix were neck-and-neck in the final moments before Miller dove for gold.
While Miller jumped with her arms flailing forward, the rules say the win is determined by which athlete has any part of her torso cross the line first.
‘I’ve never done it before, ‘ Miller said of her dive. “It hurts right now, so I’ll just have to get through this moment and then look back at that”.
In 2004, Allyson Felix had just won her first Olympic medal, but the 18-year old phenom had mixed feelings.
“I don’t know kind of what happened”, Miller said.
Despite the heartbreaking loss, Felix holds her head high because she has already competed in four Olympic games and has won a total of seven Olympic medals making her the most decorated American female Olympic track and field athlete.
However, with Felix closing quickly, a worn out Miller collapsed over the line to win the gold medal by 0.07secs. “It is such an awesome feeling”. Felix finished second in 49.51 while Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson took bronze with a time of 49.85.
Lance Brauman, Miller’s coach, told the BBC the dive was “not intentional”. Felix won the 400 at the world championships previous year and was planning to run the 200- and 400-meter double in Rio, but was hampered by an ankle injury at the US trials and didn’t make the team for the 200. Exhausted, she laid on the track, breathing heavily, as judges sorted out the photo finish and she was declared the victor.
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“Coming home, that’s when I tried to give all I had”, she said.
