After Allyson Felix loss, people wonder: Why can sprinters dive over the finish line?
It was the dive heard 'round the Olympics and one that'll be rocking the Bahamas for years to come.
American Allyson Felix had back-to-back Olympic 400m gold in her sights. Coming off the final turn, she was chasing down the University of Georgia's (by way of the Bahamas) Shaunae Miller and appeared destined to cross the finish line first. On her feet. Like a normal person. And then Miller, whether in a fit of brilliance, madness or a combination of the two, decided to leap over the finish line like a Bahamian Superwoman mixed with Pete Rose. Timing it perfectly, the dive worked. It was a gold medal for Miller, a disappointing silver for the injured Felix and a big, big deal for a sprint-crazy home nation that happens to be the size of Wichita. Watch it unfold.
The whole thing was awesome until Twitter, in its infinite, echo-chamber wisdom, suddenly decided that leaping over the finish line was, or should be, illegal, as if the whole point of the race isn't to cross the finish line first.
That's what Miller did. It's a simple concept: Whoever's chest breaks the tape first wins. If the rule was the first fingertips to cross the line then I can see where there'd be a problem and why this woman would probably be a multiple Olympic medalist.
By laying out, Miller managed to get ahead of Felix, who was on two feet, like a chump. (Kidding. In the moment, the Miller dive looked foolish.)
So, back to the original question: Why is this legal?
Rule 164, No. 2 of the 2016-17 IAAF rulebook states:
The athletes shall be placed in the order in which any part of their bodies (i.e. torso, as distinguished from the head, neck, arms, legs, hands or feet) reaches the vertical plane of the nearer edge of the finish line as defined above.
The answer is thus as easy as it gets: It's legal because it's legal. Period.
