Shaunae Miller-Uibo blamed her Devon Loch style breakdown in the 400m final on a mere loss of concentration, after recovering to win her 200m semi-final on Thursday evening.
The Bahamian has a history of producing wacky finishes to races, having dived over the line to win Olympic gold in Rio last summer and this was equally dramatic. On Wednesday night, she pulled up 20m from the line when well clear, stumbling home fifth. Phyllis Francis of the USA took a surprise gold with Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser winning silver and Allyson Felix taking bronze.
The 23-year-old received treatment after the 400m final but her mother and team manager, Maybelline Miller, said there had been no injury, despite conjecture about a possible hamstring injury or cramp.
After advancing to Friday night’s 200m final – seemingly without any injury problems – she revealed what had happened in the London rain. “A lot of people thought I hurt my hamstring or something along that line, but it was kind of weird, I had the race under control and I looked up at the screen and misplaced my foot and completely lost balance,” she said.