Her feet pounded on the track. With each step, she was one foot closer to the finish line and the coveted Olympic gold medal. After 49.51 seconds, Allyson Felix charged across the finish line and sealed her place as an Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 400m finals. Or so she thought.
In actuality, while Felix may have been the first runner whose feet crossed the finish line, another competitor, Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas, dove with her arms outstretched across the line at 49.44 seconds. She took home Olympic gold.
Wait, isn’t this an event for track and field? Aren’t competitors supposed to run the 400 meters?
According to Olympic rules and regulations, the time that a runner’s torso crosses the line determines their finish. In theory, this rule provides the judges and the runners with an easily measured standard. However, in practice, in events like this, the rule allows for the bending and manipulating of what seems like a time-honored tradition. It turns one of the original Olympic events upside down and inside out. What is a foot race if it is not won on foot?
Diving is not part of the spirit of track and field. Say what you will, but spirit, the very reason the race is run, means more to most people than the official rules and regulations. Honesty and integrity are at the core of competition, and while Miller claims that she did not plan on diving, it is hard not to cry out when Felix, the person who deserved the medal, the person who actually ran 400 meters and crossed the finish line on her feet, is knocked down to silver because of a technicality.
Diving has no place in Olympic track and field. Save it for the swimming pool.