During Monday night’s 400-meter race, Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas beat the United States’ Allyson Felix in a controversial move that has since sparked a debate online.
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No, that’s no error. Now, 30 years old, she entered the 400m sprint in Rio for what would likely be her last Olympics.
Felix, 30, was favourite to win but Miller, 22, was out for revenge after finishing second behind the American at the world championships in Beijing previous year.
Miller was timed in 49.44 seconds; Felix in 49.51 for the silver.
Miller’s finish led some viewers to accusing her of un-sportsmanship behaviour and said she “cheated’ to win the race”. Neck-and-neck with two steps to go, Miller sprawled and dove across the line to win by 0.07 seconds.
“I think (the dive) was just a reaction”.
The Bahamian athlete left her feet in the final yards of the race, beating US track star Allyson Felix by 0.07 seconds. While she still became the most-decorated American female in the history of track and field, many felt Shaunae’s dive was unethical. She now has seven total career Olympic medals, breaking a tie with Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
In the moments leading up the end of the race, Felix edged Miller by a pace.
“When I was on the ground I didn’t know I’d won”, Miller said, “I still don’t know how it happened”.
She’ll get the gold medal in the 400 meters.
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 didn’t have more to give”.
World-record holder David Rudisha of Kenya won in 1:42.15 to defend his Olympic title while Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria took the silver medal.
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 feel emotionally and physically drained at this point”, she told NBC’s Lewis Johnson.
