On Monday night in Rio, Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas won gold in the 400 metres, beating runner up Allyson Felix by 0.07 seconds.
But in the hours since, there has been widespread public outcry about the fairness of her win.
The issue is that Miller didn’t exactly cross the line first.
Instead, she dove (or fell, according to some sources) across the finish line. In real time, it looked like her US competitor had won, as her whole (upright) body definitely crossed the finish line before Miller. But, when the official ruling came through, Miller was declared the winner.
Miller, Shaunae Miller, what a dive, what a finish, what a story, what a performance, what a race #Rio2016pic.twitter.com/OgaLJWEQq8
— Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) August 16, 2016
Top Comments
People clearly don't understand running if they think she did this deliberately!
Watch the video people - I mean properly watch her carefully... down the 100m stretch you can see her knees are getting lower & her stride shorter - It's very subtle but it's a definite change in her gait which shows how tired she is, you can also see it on her face
Watch her feet as she fell & her knee smashing into the ground. Not only that do you really think she would risk the gold by gearing up to jump? That makes no sense & would actually take more time that that extra step over the line.
Also it's ALWAYS been chest first, that's why people who stumble over the line head first often lose and usually they run across the line poking their chest out as far as they can
I couldn't care less if they change the rules going forward but that would make a lot of grey area for those who stumble etc too. also, in this instance - she won fair & square!
I think the rules should be changed. I don't believe a "dive" should be a win. You should at least be on your feet when you're on the finish line.