There’s giving your all and then there’s really giving your all.
The margins are so tight in the Olympics that athletes are being forced to go to really extreme lengths to get the edge on their rivals.
Case in point: Shaunae Miller.
The 22-year-old Bahamian athlete was competing in her first Olympic final in the 400m, and almost neck-and-neck with two-time 4x400m relay champion Allyson Felix of the United States.
So she did what any of us would claim we’d do in the circumstances, but what few would actually pull off: she dived over the line to win the race.
https://twitter.com/deejayfaremi/status/765421580050726912
If you want to know just how close it was, here’s your evidence.
The Shaunae Miller finish that kept Allyson Felix from gold
Via @iaaforg pic.twitter.com/Mn60wQeT5i— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) August 16, 2016
And the best thing about it? Miller wasn’t even the first athlete to pull off the diving finish at these games.
Brazilian athlete João Vítor de Oliveira managed to force his way into fourth place in his 110m hurdles heat with a last minute dive – leave your Arsenal jokes at the door, folks.
https://twitter.com/DiscipuloOmar/status/765346629847310337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
De Oliveira claimed that he always finishes races that way, and it even saw him leave the track with broken ribs while competing in China.
People will do anything to get that one little edge.
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