Sinclaire Johnson will be racing 1500 at Worlds thanks to Athing Mu's scratch

All the negative comments I have seen about Athing had absolutely nothing to do with Tuohy or fans of Tuohy. Totally unrelated stuff.

What seemed to have triggered some of it was when a BroJo (can’t remember which one) wrote a front page article praising Mu for dropping out of Millrose mile which seemed odd. It was fine that she dropped out of course, but that article seemed inappropriate and designed to stir the pot.

There are also all the usual suspects of misogynists, racists, incels and some intense Hodgekinson fans. Nothing at all to do with the NC State runner.

She isn’t, but she was.

There is time, but she's going to have to work harder and make sure her head is in the game. Keely is hungry.

Johnson 1500 PB - 3:58

Mu 1500 PB - 4:03

I agree that what Mu did was impressive, but this is just silly. Johnson has a significantly faster PB and was 6th in the world last year.

6th in the world, but a giant chasm away from the medals. I truly believe that Mu could make a better effort than Johnson. Especially if she concentrated on the 1500.

I dont think anyone doubts that. But she has to choose to up her odds. 800 is virtual lock. She only has to be her normal self to beat everyone including Keely. We are seeing 1:59, 2:00 at meets with some consistency.

I think what you mean is wind back the clock to 2021. You can't be talking about 2022 when there was nothing in it. You define 'normal self' as Mu in summer 21 and you want to freeze Keely in summer 21 too, right?

It was always going to be a competitive race between Mu, Hodgkinson, and Moraa, and still is, but you can’t ignore how much improvement Mu has made in her 1500 time.

This helps with the rounds and to hang on better in the second lap of the final if the race goes out hard which I expect it will. Kersee also seems to have helped restore her confidence. Now for Bobby’s greatest challenge - keeping Mu in Lane 1 throughout the race.

Just curious, what do you think Mu could have run this year in Budapest had she concentrated on 1500m?

Mu clearly has the "peaking" thing down based on the last two years' performances. The 800 is a finicky race. Hodgkinson and Morra have been VERY impressive recently, but have they been too impressive too far ahead of Worlds? Mu is still very much the favorite.

Mu has a higher ceiling in the 1500 than Johnson and others because of her inexperience in the event at this level of competition relative to them. I don’t think Mu was challenged much in AAU 1500’s and she only ran it once in college. Mu’s basic speed is also far superior. Johnson and others are not slow but 49.5 400 runners, they are not.

Even with these advantages she still has to put in the work, higher mileage, etc. There is just not enough time to make the transition this year or next. I see this as more of an LA 2028 project. Kipyegon’s time seems out of reach, but the AR? Possible.

Is it just me or was SJ right there for 3rd place (by a hundredth perhaps) until she dove? Or fell, I cant tell. Seems like once she piled it up she lost that lean at the line.

Looks like she leans at the waterfall/xfinity sign and looks left like its the finish? Then goes down.

I don't think she dove. I think she went to the well to try to get 3rd and her legs shut down.

I think that's true. Run til your legs fall off. I would like to see more of that from my squad.

I would say about 3:58x and possibly compete for bronze. I think she could run much faster than that a year later if she did a stint at altitude and trained for just the 800/mile. She is still doing a decent amount of training with the sprinters, which suggests she hasn't completely dropped the 400.

There are 2 ways to run fast.
1. A long stride
2. Quick turnover
Athing Mu is VERY good at #1, but her turnover does not seem to change at the end of races, even the 800m. You can see this in the last 100m of this 1500m. Of the top 4, she probably ran 3rd fastest last 100m, barely faster than McGee, Hiltz and Johnson obviously faster. This makes tactical 1500m races less likely to go her way.

She is an amazing runner and probably has potential to run very fast at both distances. But she is vulnerable when someone is close the last 100.

We have already seen a 49/1:54 runner move up to the 1500 in Caster Semenya. She has a 3:59 PR but I think Mu is a more natural 1500 runner than Semenya. And notably, Semenya won a bronze in the event.

In the 1500 it all comes down to the race. 2017 came down to the kick. Last year Tsegay went out at WR pace and the field was already gapped at 200. The only runners who survived to medal were the sub 3:55 women.

The last 3 global finals were won in 3:51, 3:53 and 3:52 but i think that will change this year. It's suicide to try and run away from a 3:49/14:05 athlete. And given that Tsegay is 0-14 against Faith in the 1500 she is likely to pass this year. Next year we will have to see but the more tactical the race the better Mu's chances.

I don't see any relevant evidence I'm afraid, since neither of her two big rivals are doing the 1500 whilst they have in turn both done pbs (Keely at 4/8 and Mary just at 4) this summer. And I don't really buy the argument that Mu needs more endurance since as often pointed out before Kratochvilova never even ran a 1500m. Good evidence of Mu's status prior to Budapest would be either she beats at least one of the other two or crushes a DL field more convincingly than they have done so far this summer. That evidence isn't going to happen due frankly to her avoiding racing at 800m. So we are still in the dark imho.