No, that’s no error.
Advertisement
The 22-year-old Miller finished with a time of 49.44 seconds while Felix, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, took home the silver with a final time of 49.51 seconds.
Just as she had done in Beijing past year, Shericka Jackson of Jamaica took the bronze medal.
“I gave it everything I had”, she said, addressing the media almost an hour after the race, according to ESPN. Neck-and-neck with two steps to go, Miller sprawled and dove across the line to win by 0.07 seconds.
Former track and field star Lolo Jones took to Twitter to quiet down the people outraged at Miller’s gold medal dive. In 2012, when she was still in high school, she failed to make it out of the qualifying round.
A disappointed Felix said her loss was painful. That puts her past Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s record and makes her the most decorated US female track athlete of all time.
Felix, who could still add to her medal tally in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, would not be drawn on whether she could return for a fifth Olympics in Tokyo.
Shaunae Miller stunned Allyson Felix to win the women’s 400 metre race at the Olympic Games in Rio.
Felix said she had not known who won after crossing the line with Miller sprawled beside her. She attempted to pull away in the final bend, as Felix surged about 50 metres from the line.
“I’ve got a few cuts and bruises but I’m OK”. I feel emotionally and physically drained at this moment.
“I wanted to medal, but I can’t think about that right now”, she said.
Felix told the Today show that she was “not too used to seeing” a dive like that in a race. Just disappointment, you know.
“I just gave it all I had”.
Advertisement
While Miller jumped with her arms flailing forward, the rules say the victory is determined by which athlete has any part of her torso cross the line first.
