We knew Shaunae Miller-Uibo for his plunge on the finish line which had offered him gold in the 400 m in Rio in 2016. This Friday, at the Olympic stadium in Tokyo, the 27-year-old Bahamian athlete did not no need to extend his whole class to dominate the race.
It is rather what happened after that prompted some Internet users to wonder.
🙌 LEGENDARY
🔟th Olympic medal for @allysonfelix, who won bronze in the 400 meters!
Shaunae Miller crushed the competition! #Olympic Games # Tokyo2020 #Athletics pic.twitter.com/g1vXLrgkcH
- Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) August 6, 2021
On the images, we first see the double vice-world champion going up to the stand to share her joy with relatives.
She then slides her spikes to one of them, who bends down to pick up something.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo crouched down and waited quietly, had a drink.
Several tens of seconds later, the individual throws him another pair of shoes which seem identical, of a well-known brand with three stripes.
In a context where little is needed to question performances, this behavior has raised questions on the web. Without clearly talking about cheating, the most skeptical wonder about the reason, as well as the duration of the exchange. During the Games, a controversy thus arose over Nike's new model which would improve the lap times, including the 100 - 200 m champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah, and the 100 m champion, the Italian Marcell Jacobs, are equipped.
Spike size for better running, special sole for better bouncing, or just a sign of bromhidrosis (we'll let you look for the meaning)? Unless there is an investigation, there will probably be no answers to these questions, so no risk of “shoesgate”. As a reminder, the regulatory length not to be exceeded for points on synthetic tracks is 9 mm.
