Shaunae Miller took a dive, and it led to an Olympic gold medal. Faltering in the final few steps of the 400 meters on Monday night in Rio, Miller dove across the finish line, crossing it just before the U.S.‘s Allyson Felix as Miller hung on to win gold, 49.44 seconds to 49.51.
Olympics 2016, track and field results: Shaunae Miller dives past Allyson Felix for gold in 400 meters
The Bahamian won the 400 over the U.S.‘s Felix, David Rudisha asserted his greatness to win the 800 for the second consecutive time and Emma Coburn won the first U.S. medal ever in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase on Monday in Rio.
James Lang-USA TODAY Sports
It was a thrilling finish -- and a legal one: Once a part of an athlete’s torso crosses the finish line, the clock stops. So even though Felix’s feet crossed before Miller’s, the Bahamian athlete’s torso crossed the finish line first to give her the win. It was a shocking win in the most thrilling race of the Olympic Games.
For Felix, it was a disappointing race in what has turned out to be a disappointing year. She had hoped to complete the 200-400 double that Michael Johnson did in 1996, but an ankle injury kept her off the Olympic team in the 200-meter race. A gold in the 400 would have meant redemption, but she came up just short. Felix held back tears in her post-race interview with NBC. There is one silver lining -- her silver medal gave Felix her seventh Olympic medal, making her the most decorated track and field woman in history.
David Rudisha is the best 800-meter runner of all time, and there’s no doubt about it
Rudisha’s Rio win wasn’t as dominant or as awe-inspiring as his sensational world record run of 1:40.91 from London, but it was another display of the Kenyan’s dominance of the event. After coming through the first 400 meters in second place, Rudisha moved to the front of the field with 300 meters to go and never looked back, winning in 1:42.15 over Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi in 1:42.61 and Team USA’s Clayton Murphy in 1:42.93. It was the U.S.‘s first medal in the 800 since 1992 as Murphy ran the third fastest time in U.S. history.
Emma Coburn wins the first medal ever for the U.S. in women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase
The steeplechase -- with its five hurdles and one water jump per lap -- is the most chaotic event in track. And Emma Coburn of Colorado became the first U.S. woman ever to medal in the event, winning bronze in an American record of 9:07.12. Coburn already owned the American record and had finished in fifth in the world championships in 2015, but this time she brought home a medal. Ruth Jebet, a 19-year-old from Bahrain via Kenya, won gold in 8:59.75, just missing the world record.
A Brazilian brought home gold for the host country in the pole vault
Thiago Braz da Silva defeated the defending champion in the pole vault, leaping 6.03 meters (19’9.25) to win gold and set an Olympic record in front of his home crowd. France’s Renaud Lavillenie had a vault of 5.98 meters to win the silver as American Sam Kendricks finished third with a 5.85 meter jump. It was the first gold medal for Brazil in track and field.
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