**I''m just sitting back and waiting for Athing to finally train for the 800/1500m and make it happen
Ha ha ha ha. Athing Mu is never going to be good enough at the 1500 to be able to compete with the best in the world. You're going to be waiting for a loooooong time.
FOUR NATIONAL 1500/Mile titles by age 16, if it was anyone else besides Athing Mu everyone would be calling such a runner the future of USA 1500m.
Maybe if she won Brooks PR, or new balance outdoor nats, or U20 champs in the 1500m/mile. But AAU titles mean nothing in the 1500m, fastest she ever ran was 4:34 with no competition. That 1500m is a slower time than Touhy's HS record.
I'm not trying to call out or belittle anyone but I always thought Athing MU was an 800/1500m runner. Even when she ran 49.57;and later spilt 48.3 on the relay, I was thinking no 1500m runner ever had her speed.
1.) FLASHBACK:. 2013-2017 Athing won 4 National titles in the 1500/mile ALL when she was 16 years old or younger
2.). Her 200m personal best Indoors is 24.11 (2019) and outdoors 23.62 (2018). A year or two before she dropped down to the 400 and set her personal best.
3.) Athing Mu started out as a more of a 800/1500m runner and did very well. She also posted a sub 18:30 country 5km performance a time most posters would consider VERY GOOD but Footlocker Championship material. Which demonstrates she still has amazing endurance off 800m training.
4.) Athing Mu is HIGHLY intelligent and she remembers her escapades at 1500m and wouldn't allow Kersee to move her to an event unless she was strongly convinced she could return to and be world class.
Athing ran those amazing 400m STRICTLY off endurance as she has never broken sub 23.5 for 200m. If a female can be world class at 800m and marathon, or pull of a 1500m/10000m double. Then surely a sub 50 400m runner Athing Mu can move BACK up to one of her previous events the 1500m.
There’s could she and then there’s should she?
Could she? Well, I’m highly skeptical she could and am not swayed by her AAU performances, but I agree, it’s not impossible that with dedicated effort, lots more miles of training, great coaching she might will herself to become a world level 1500 runner. Certainly, I’m interested for her to show up this summer, declare she’s fit, and see what she can do in a 1500.
The bigger question, is should she? Why bother with the 1500? She’s already on the doorstep of being a 400 medalist. She’s medaled in the relay. The 400 is a far softer event right now than the 1500. If gold is the goal, the 1500 is really out of the question. She’s NEVER going to beat Kipyegon in the next two years. NEVER. There’s no 400 runner that’s a lock like Faith. Also, what’s the upside? She’s not going to be any more popular or influential to the public as a 800/1500 gold medalist than she would be as a 400/800/relay gold medalist. It just seems like a no brainer that if you were her coach and adviser, you would advise the latter.
If you truly think her 1500 upside is greater than her 400 upside, I strongly disagree. Honestly, however, all of this is moot until she runs. Let’s see her seriously compete in one or more of these off events and see what happens.
This post was edited 4 minutes after it was posted.
AAU 1500s don't mean very much for athletes who are trained for shorter distances but are far, far more talented at that age than their competition. It's not as if she were beating the Katelyn Tuohy's of the world (that is, the best middle distance runners of her rough age group). She had far, far more speed than anyone she was racing in those 1500m runs and their endurance doesn't really start kicking in until later, so you often see sprint prodigies winning 800 and even 1500m at early ages before specializing in shorter distances and never doing the long distance work that could in theory have brought them to the top in the 1500m in later life. I think that more of those prodigies should be trained for the longer distances and that it's a shame they usually don't do that. But Athing Mu would have to change her training a lot to compete with sub-4 1500m runners, and that would probably cost her some of the 400m speed edge she has on every other 800m runner. She's being moved to 800/1500 only to avoid spoiling things for the golden child.
She ran a 1:55.04 and 49.57. Her 1500m PR is only 4:16
agree that shes a 4/8 runner but this argument is stupid
"cole hocker can't run 3:34 because he hasn't done it yet"
That’s fair. The more pertinent point is that as a pro at Millrose she tried to run a mile worth 4:04-4:05 and had to drop out. So realistically she’s demonstrated around 4:08-4:10 fitness. That is some 12+ seconds off being a medal contender. Hocker had run 3:50 for the mile, so that was another factor that was dumbly being ignored in his PB.
She's being moved to 800/1500 only to avoid spoiling things for the golden child.
Yet another poster who has been fooled by Bobby Kersee.
Athing Mu is NOT being moved to the 1500. She's only running the 1500 at USA's this year because Kersee doesn't want anyone to know what kind of 800 shape Mu is in right now.
And she won't be moving to the 1500 next year either because Bobby Kersee isn't that crazy. Even he doesn't really believe Athing Mu is able to be in gold medal contention at the Olympics.
I( think Athing Mu will run faster than the Current American Record in the 1500 3:54.99 before her career is over. I was Happy to hear she will also do 1500
Athing Mu is NOT being moved to the 1500. She's only running the 1500 at USA's this year because Kersee doesn't want anyone to know what kind of 800 shape Mu is in right now.
If she is not in shape to run the 800m, how is she going to be in shape to compete in the 1500m?
I( think Athing Mu will run faster than the Current American Record in the 1500 3:54.99 before her career is over. I was Happy to hear she will also do 1500
....
Thank you Douglas. The only reason I haven't stated she will run that fast is I don't think she will commit enough seasons to run sub 3:55. I think in 2 season she may get down to sub 3:58, but hope you are right and I'm wrong.
Now, why are all the nay sayers discrediting. FOUR NATIONAL titles for Athing at 1500/Mile.or the fact she ran 4:48 1500m at age 12 which converts to sub 5:10 in the 7th grade? She ran the mile sparingly but was still one of high school nations best til age 16 when she focused solely on the 800m.
Athing Mu is NOT being moved to the 1500. She's only running the 1500 at USA's this year because Kersee doesn't want anyone to know what kind of 800 shape Mu is in right now.
If she is not in shape to run the 800m, how is she going to be in shape to compete in the 1500m?
She's NOT going to be in good enough shape to be competitive in the 1500.
USATF is forcing her to run at USA's if she wants to defend her 800 title at this year's World Championships. That's how the rules work. And her coach prefers that she run the 1500 at USA's instead of the 800.
Now, why are all the nay sayers discrediting. FOUR NATIONAL titles for Athing at 1500/Mile.or the fact she ran 4:48 1500m at age 12 which converts to sub 5:10 in the 7th grade?
She ran the mile sparingly but was still one of high school nations best til age 16 when she focused solely on the 800m.
Oh give me a break. Do you any idea how many teenage girls ran well in high school and then never ran fast in their 20's? A TON of them.
Athing Mu winning some not very competitive AAU 1500/mile titles in her mid teens means absolutely nothing regarding the chances of her having a shot at an Olympic gold medal like Bobby Kersee claims.
If anything, she's a pure 800 runner. But she is definitely not a 1500 runner. If she ever breaks 4:00, I will eat my hat. I think if she wants a challenge, she should try the 400 hurdles. Honestly, she's tall, and the women's hurdles are short.
You are correct a ton of high school girls do run fast in high school and never run fast again; however, how many of them go on to win Olympic and World titles by the age of 20?
As far as AAU it means a lot that she won 4 1500/mile National titles by age 16 in which she dominated against athletes of the same age (so your comment about mid teens makes no sense- she wasn't 16 running against 13-14 yr olds).
Her 400m performances (done more on endurance than speed) have blurred everyone's opinion about her 1500m ability. I'm not saying Athing can win Olympic Gold but I am saying with proper 800/1500m training in 2 years she can run a sub 4 minute 1500m. She ALWAYS has the potential, now she just have to train property for that event..
Sorry to have to “convert” her profile to male examples but that’s easiest for me.
Mu has similarly competitive speed to Emmanuel Korir and David Rudisha (or even slightly better) with 1500 ability in the Donovan Brazier to Marco Arop range—I suspect Arop is the closer comparison. She is the best in the world at 600-800, could place top 5 at 400 and 1000 (I like Kipyegon to beat her) and at 1500 she’s maxing out at 4:02 and 7th at USAs type range. I’ll readily admit if she proves me wrong.