While Shaunae Miller had a substantial run in the women's 400 meter final in Rio, it was not the running that earned her the gold over Felix. Miller took a dive across the finish line to beat Felix by .07. While the rules of track and field state "whomever's chest crosses the finish line first win," it should specifically state on foot.
Felix would have earned her fifth gold medal
Normally this would not justify someone having earned something that they didn't, but in Felix's case, I believe we can agree that it does. She did end up earning her fifth gold later in the games in the 4x100 [and another gold in the 4x400] but it would have been even more significant for her to earn it in an individual event. This is because by earning her fifth gold medal, Felix became the first female USA track and field athlete to do so. For Felix to lose not only the race but such an amazing achievement because of a dive had to be disappointing. Even earning silver, she became the most decorated female USA track and field athlete of all time, so there is nothing to belittle about her receiving silver. It just would have been that much more remarkable to earn both titles at once, especially when coming back from an injury.
If it wasn't for the dive, Felix would have won
This can be controversial. Some claim that, like in baseball, when an athlete dives it actually slows them down. While that may or may not be true, that does not mean that diving cannot make a difference of when a runner's chest crosses the line compared to if they run across it. Diving doesn't necessarily slow an athlete down until they hit the ground and slide, not while they are in the air. Miller took a forward leap that ended in a dive while running at full speed; even though Miller was behind Felix before the dive, her body being in a horizontal position gave her the advantage over Felix. Miller's body length is longer than the distance Felix was ahead of her when she dove, so the dive is truly what upset Miller over Felix. Miller didn't actually hit the track until she crossed over the line, which is why the dive assisted her rather than slowing her down.
While diving has been done in the past, that doesn't make it right
There have been numerous athletes before Miller to dive across the finish line in the Olympics. For example, the USA 400 meter runner, David Neville, dove to a bronze victory in Beijing in 2008. Supporting Team USA is what we as Americans should do, but not in a case like this. It is wrong of all athletes [no matter if they are from your own country or not] to use the act of diving in a race. It's wrong because not only is it unsportsmanlike, but it is disrespectful to the other competing athletes. Those who dive do not care how they win, as long as they do. They do it because they could not have earned the same time [or place] on foot, so they decide to take the easy route instead. They in their minds know that diving is a cheap way of beating someone else who ran the race the right way, yet do it anyway. It cannot be justified just because the rules don't specifically state that it isn't allowed, or because others have done it before. There's no excuse to do such a thing in a race. How can an athlete can be proud in earning an Olympic medal by diving, when it's supposed to be a race?
It's track and field, not diving
Miller is not the first to dive across the line, and she probably won't be the last either. Until a new rule is made concerning diving, certain athletes will continue to use this trick to their advantage in track and field. Athletes need to leave diving to the swimming pools and off the track. If they want to dive, they should not have chosen to be track and field athletes. Plain and simple. It is not a part of the sport and never should have been. Runners should not dive knowing they can get away with it just because of how the rules are stated. It doesn't matter what the rule says, runners should earn Olympic medals by running. Hopefully, in the future, the rules will change and diving will not be allowed, so humble and hardworking athletes like Allyson Felix will not end up in an unfortunate outcome like the women's 400 meter final.
