Shaunae Miller dives over line to upset Allyson Felix in incredible finish to women’s 400m final in Rio
ALLYSON Felix was regarded as one of the biggest certainties of the Games and it was going to take something special to beat her in the 400m final.Shaunae Miller did just that.
ALLYSON Felix was regarded as one of the biggest certainties of the Games and it was going to take something special to beat her in the 400m final.
Shaunae Miller from the Bahamas came up with that something — diving, rather than running, over the finish line.
In an extraordinary climax to the Olympic final, Miller had led all the way down the home straight but with Felix closing with every step she decided to dive at the finish line in an attempt to beat the American.
The photo finish showed Miller’s torso crossing the line — albeit close to the ground — as Felix’s foot crossed.
Runners aren’t allowed to reach with their arms or legs to cross the line with the torso the defining measurement.
Miller was awarded the gold medal in a personal best 49.49 sec with Felix clocking a season’s best 49.51 sec.
“I’ve never done it before. I have cuts and bruises, a few burns. It hurts,” Miller said about her diving exploits.
“This is the moment I have been waiting for. I just gave it my all.
“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.
“I think (the dive) was just a reaction, my mind went blank, the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground.”
Felix also crashed to the track after crossing the line and for several moments the pair lay just a couple of metres apart.
The defending world champion was overcome with emotion with the loss capping off one of the toughest years of her decorated career.
Felix had planned to chase the 200-400 double in Rio with the timetable actually changed in order to suit her attempting this rare feat.
But injury impacted on her preparation for the US Olympic trials and she missed an individual berth in the 200m by .01 sec by finishing fourth.
The 30-year-old was chasing her fifth Olympic gold medal in the 400m.
When asked about Miller’s dive, Felix said: “I was just focused on myself. I didn’t really have too many thoughts on it.
“I just gave it all I had, I don’t think I had anything left to give. I feel emotionally and physically drained at this moment. I really wanted it, it’s painful.
“It’s been a tough one and I really hoped it would come together tonight.”
Felix, who won the 200m gold medal at London 2012, had defeated Miller at last year’s world championships in Beijing with the bronze medallist there — Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson — repeating the effort in Rio with a time of 49.85 sec.
The American superstar now has seven Olympic medals — a record for American women — and will seek to add to that in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
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Originally published as Shaunae Miller dives over line to upset Allyson Felix in incredible finish to women’s 400m final in Rio
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