Shaunae Miller's dive across the finish line won her the gold medal in the 400-meter dash on Monday night. The Bahamas runner edged out American Allyson Felix by 0.07 seconds.
Miller, 22, launched herself head first over the finish line to win with a time of 49.44, stunning the former Olympic gold medalist Felix, The Washington Post reported.
"My mind just went blank," Miller, a former track star at the University of Georgia, said of her unorthodox finish. "The only thing I was thinking was the gold medal. Next you know, I was on the ground."
The Los Angeles Times reported that no one initially knew who won the race, and that the crowd paused until Miller's name appeared on the scoreboard as the winner.
Though the silver was bittersweet for Felix, 30, it was her seventh Olympic track and field medal, and helped her break the U.S. record set by Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
"I just really wanted it. . . . I think in the moment, it's painful," Felix said.
Felix was the defending Olympic 200-meter champ and was hoping for a rare 200-meter and 400-meter gold medal victory.
A training accident, though, damaged ligaments in Felix's ankle in late April, preventing her from qualifying for the 200-meter during the U.S. trials. Felix, though, will have a shot at two more gold medals as she is expected to run on the U.S.'s 400-meter and 1,600-meter relay teams.
Many on social media cried foul about Miller's dive to nip Felix at the finish line.
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