Felix, who had battled back from injury to make the United States team for Rio, said her record haul of medals at the Olympics and world championships was little consolation for the loss.
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Felix has four Olympic gold medals to her credit, and her silver in the 400-meter is her third, dating back to the 2004 Games in Athens.
The two track and field stars were neck and neck at the end of the race until Miller, 22, left her feet and flew through the air with outstretched arms in the final yard of the race.
The official 2016 Olympic track and field rules state that the victor of a race is the athlete who is first to have any part of his or her torso cross the finish line.
“I didn’t see anyone until the last 20 metres and the only thing I was thinking was that I must get that gold medal”, explained Miller.
“It was just a reaction”, she said. Now, 30 years old, she entered the 400m sprint in Rio for what would likely be her last Olympics.
“It wasn’t my best race”, Felix, now the most decorated woman in American track and field history, said during a Tuesday appearance on the Today show.
Miller’s dive, though the most recent and among the most dramatic, is far from the first. The photo finish showed Miller’s shoulder just ahead of Felix, who defeated the Bahaman runner a year ago to win the world championship title.
A dive across the finish line is perfectly legal, which means Miller is the appropriate champion despite how some individuals perceived her act.
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Monday’s silver medal makes her the most decorated U.S. woman in track and field history. “The next thing I knew, I was on the ground”. “I’ll take a look into that, though”, she said. Rather, they told reporters Monday that the gold medalist’s legs simply gave out as she came down the home stretch. “I feel emotionally and physically drained at this moment”.
