Allyson Felix Loses Out on Gold to Controversial Diving Finish from Shaunae Miller

DID YOU SEE THIS FINISH? dives to beat out @AllysonFelix in the 400m. https://t.co/LJf9pvPIbV https://t.co/o3SIQikYeP
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 16, 2016

Twenty-two-year-old Bahamian sprinter Shaunae Miller won gold in the 400 meters last night in Rio and did so in a way not often seen on the track: she dove across the finish line. In real time, it almost looked like she ran out of gas and her body just fell toward the finish line, or she misjudged how far away she was and as she pushed her chest out to cross the line, she realized she had much farther to go and just continued falling forward. But her quotes after the race make it sound like she knew she dove: "It was just a reaction…. My mind just went blank."

Wait seriously you're allowed to dive rather than running thru the line? Allyson Felix got robbed. via @NBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/Xp0U1S3KLb
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) August 16, 2016

Allyson Felix did not get robbed, though, technically. The rules of track and field do not prohibit diving at the finish, and might even encourage it, when you get right down to it:

The finish: The first athlete whose torso (as distinguished from the head, neck, arms, legs, hands or feet) reaches the vertical plane of the closest edge of the finish line is the winner.

There is nothing there to suggest diving is off limits, but Miller took a lot of heat last night because not even the simplest sport in the world is immune to unwritten rules. It's supposedly bad form to dive across the finish line and thanks to the special kind of know-it-all jingoism that the Olympics engenders for two weeks every four years, Americans were up in arms that Felix—an Olympics darling—got "robbed" by below-the-board tactics. Felix herself was more diplomatic, though, saying that iIn the moment, it's just—it's painful."

But there's always the question of whether diving even helps you finish a race faster. It comes up in baseball all the time when players slide into first rather than run through the bag. It's a little bit different there because players are not just diving to cross an imaginary plane—they are sliding across dirt to touch a bag, which will definitely slow you down. Like Miller said, though, a lot of times players just react and it feels like laying out for the bag will get you there quicker. Getting back to the torso rule for track and field, it's a little murkier, according to Lolo Jones:

Depends. A photo finish measures from chest, so diving can help. If you dive too soon hurts-lose one step of speed https://t.co/0Rx2HYM0Lz
— Lolo Jones (@lolojones) August 16, 2016

This is where Miller began her horizontal journey:

That's pretty far away! She kept upright for another step or two, but she was not going full speed anymore. She may have actually made the race closer than the .07 second edge she wound up having over Felix.

In the end, Shaunae Miller is the gold-medal winner in the 400m and there's nothing anyone can do about it except cry foul and have some sour grapes. And completely pretend like David Neville didn't pick a Bahamian's pocket in the same race in Beijing:

2008: #USA's Neville dove past #BAH's Brown for #bronze. 2016: #BAH's Miller dove past #USA's Felix for #gold. https://t.co/sGnvreZNVJ
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 16, 2016