A dramatic dive across the line by Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas has led to questions whether American Allyson Felix was robbed of Olympic gold in the women’s 400-metre final.
Diving is a subject of much controversy, but the rules are clear: “The first athlete whose torso (as distinguished from the head, neck, arms, legs, hands or feet) reaches the vertical plane of the closest edge of the finish line is the winner.”
Therefore, Miller’s dive was completely legal.
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 last year.
Miller powered out from the starting block and led strongly throughout. However, her facial expressions began to reveal pain, and her legs tightened up with the finish line 50 metres ahead.
Felix surged forward while slightly overtaking Miller, resulting in a neck-and-neck race to the finish line.
Finally, what seemed a stumble from Miller (48.6s) turned into a gold-medal winning dive.
Miller finished the race with a personal best time of 49.44, to Felix’s 49.51.
Miller told Today the dive left her with “some cuts and bruises, a few burns… it hurts”.
“When I was on the ground I didn’t know I’d won,” Miller said.
“I still don’t know how it happened.
“What was in my mind was I had to get a gold medal. The next thing I was on the ground, It’s an amazing feeling.”
On the other hand, Felix was extremely disappointed that she failed to win another gold medal for America.
“I feel emotionally and physically drained at this point. Just disappointment, you know. I don’t think I’ve quite had a year this tough. I just really wanted it,” Felix said post-race.
However, she made history on Monday night as the oldest woman to medal in the 400.
Shericka Jackson from Jamaica took bronze in 49.85s.
Miller isn’t the only athlete to perform a dive.
Earlier Monday evening, Brazilian hurdler João Vitor de Oliveira dove across the finish line and earned himself a spot in the 110-metre hurdles semi-finals.
In the 2008 Olympics, American sprinter David Neville earned bronze after diving in the 400 final.
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