Tokyo Olympics: Shaunae Miller-Uibo retains 400m title as Allyson Felix takes historic bronze
Felix collected her 10th Olympic medal but no one came close to challenging the Bahamas’ Miller-Uibo as she defended her title
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Shaunae Miller-Uibo retained her Olympic 400m title in emphatic fashion as Allyson Felix won yet another major medal, collecting bronze. It is the 10th Olympic medal of 35-year-old Felix’s career, across five different Games, making the American the most decorated female track and field Olympian of all time.
Felix was pipped to the line by Miller-Uibo in a dramatic finish in Rio five years ago, but here the Bahamian was never really threatened. Miller-Uibo had considered focusing on the 200m in Tokyo but her decision to double up paid off as she dominated the 400m final, surging away with 150m to go to clock a personal best 48.36 sec and become the first woman to retain the crown since France’s Marie-Jose Perec in 1996.
Marileidy Paulino of Dominican Republic took silver in 49.20 as Felix won bronze in 49.46, edging out Jamaica’s Stephanie Ann McPherson on the line.
Britain’s Jodie Williams finished sixth in 49.97 in her first major final. The 27-year-old began her career as a 100m and 200m sprinter but seems to have found her calling.
“I went for it, I risked it, went out strong and I just didn’t have the legs in the end,” Williams said, having started in lane eight. “This is my first ever final, first year doing the event, I was close.
“Right now I’m upset, but I think in hindsight I’ll be very proud of myself. Just making this final alone, in a new event, like I said before I’ve only run four 400s before this year, I stepped up this year and medalled indoors, and now I’m an Olympic finalist with two back-to-back 49s. I’ve pulled a performance out of the bag when it matters most every time, right now I’m just gutted that it wasn’t enough to get that medal that would have been just such a nice end to such a great season, but I really can’t be upset.”
The race was almost a dead heat at the end of the back straight but from there Muller-Uibo began to open up her long stride and pull away. Felix had started in the outside lane nine after looking short of her best in the semi-finals, and it meant all she could do was run her own race and hope to be in contention coming off the bend. She used her experience to do just that, and as they came into the final 100m she was in second place.
From there, though, the 24-year-old Paulino accelerated to collect her first major medal, and it became a battle between Felix and the Jamaican national champion McPherson for bronze. Felix grimaced, feeling the pain, but kept her form to resists McPherson’s charge.
Felix has now surpassed Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey and her haul of nine medals, and the 4x400m final on Saturday will offer her the chance to go beyond Carl Lewis’s now joint-record count of 10 Olympic athletics medals.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments