TOKYO, Japan — Former UGA Bulldog Shaunae Miller-Uibo put in one of the sensational runs of the Tokyo Olympics early Friday, racing to gold in the women's 400m final.
She successfully defended the title she won by diving across the finish line against Allyson Felix in Rio in 2016 - this time winning in much more comfortable fashion.
Miller-Uibo came in nearly a full second - 0.84 seconds - ahead of Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic.
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The race was one of the most-anticipated of the entire Tokyo Games, as Team USA fans were pulling for Felix to provide one more magic moment in what was to be her final individual Olympic race.
Felix delivered, powering to the bronze medal to set a record for Olympic women's track competitors - an unbelievable 10 total medals across her career.
But it was Miller-Uibo who provided the electricity with a run that immediately became the sixth-fastest women's 400m in history.
Miller-Uibo's athletic abilities run in her family. Her mom taught her to run around the bases on a softball diamond, racing against her older sister. When she was 10, she competed in the Caribbean Union of Teachers Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
"I ended up winning the overall championship for my division, and, on reflection, that is the moment I started to fall in love with the sport," she said. "I was so inspired I went home to my father and said, 'I want to one day be a Golden Girl'. I think they laughed at me at first, but that's what I am now doing."
The 27-year-old short-distance runner and Rio Olympics gold medalist met her husband while the two were freshmen at UGA. The two had classes in common as well as trained together. Her Estonian decathlete husband joined her in the Olympic journey to gold.
"We would always see each other," Miller-Uibo said. "We became really good friends and the story goes on from there."
In 2016, the sprinter dove across the finish line in the 400m event as she lost her balance. While on the ground, she didn't know if she had won or not. The dramatic and memorable moment of her winning gold remains in the memory of many track fans.
She scraped her knee, stomach and forearms, but it was all worth it for the gold medal.