How are track stars feeling so much "pressure" from media and fans. There's like 1,000 of us at most...

For example in soccer, where a Colombian fan murdered Andres Escobar because he scored an own goal in the 1994 World Cup.

It’s all relative. An individual sport like track is so mental. Then add the younger generation’s incessant social media immersion. Recipe for pressure.

I think it's more than just pressure from the fans.

Multiple things going on here:

1. She's young. You grow up in institutionalized settings with a lot of structure. High School, then colllege, and then suddenly you're dropped into the real world and expected to be an adult. This can be jarring for people. Its normal for many people her age... just part of coming of age... To expound on this, she has to do it under a spot light.

2. She's obviously burnt out. She wins the Olympic gold in 2021. That's a hugh peak. Then the Olympics is over and she's left thinking. Okay I reached my goal... is that it? What am I supposed to do now... Well run 2022 World Championships of course. Another Gold, another quick peak. then on to the next year. Michael Phelps went through the same thing.

3. From her interview it sounds like maybe theres more going on as well. Maybe she's dealing with depression. Maybe there is some personal issues with friends/family/ect she is struggling with. Maybe it's just the coming of age thing I mentioned in number 1 where she's just trying to find her true self.

My worthless and uneducated opinion is that maybe she just needs a few months break and a therapist... maybe some medication... She also probably doesn't need jack @sses like me scrutinizing her life as if I know her or she owes me somthing.

BTW: 1:56:61 was a very respectable time. Bronze was nothing to be ashamed of. She ran a tough race and got on the podium despite all this. Mary Morra and Keeley are extremely talented. It's disrespectful to them to treat this as some kind of failure from Mu.

First, I disagree with your username. The NBC/Peacock coverage and team is great.

Second, I think it would help Athing’s public relations problem (with the 1000 or so people who care) if it was known what the other hobbies are. I would really like to root for Athing, she’s a great kid/young adult from Trenton. The difficulty is that while she’s extremely talented, she doesn’t seem to be a good racer (always running on the outside of lane one, now that she’s finally been passed on the inside, hopefully she’ll learn). She clearly dislikes the contact in the 800/1500. It’s a shame she’s not quite fast enough to excel in the open 400.

You should keep in mind that track and field is not really a professional sport. I know it calls itself a pro sport, but really, it's all a bit tin pot. Meets frequently take place where top stars might be watched by a crowd that doesn't even break 1,000 - some are still competing on high school tracks! Can you imagine any other top pro athletes turning up to compete to virtually no spectators? Then, a major champs rolls around, or the Olympics, and the attention is out of all proportion with anything the athletes have experience throughout the season.

Add to that there is just no professional infrastructure that is comparable to that of other sports, it's not surprising that track athletes feel the pressure

Your points are fair, if speculative, but she’s getting bad advice. If she needs/needed time off she should have taken it. And her team could have communicated a better message from the outset that this is an “off” year, experimenting with new event / training. People are rightly a bit confused about her not caring about a World Champs. The lack of gap year is an issue for athletes, but somehow more severe for her. This is surprising for a young athlete, who should be used to yearly championships.

I think this part is huge. Even some hobby joggers today try to make themselves into social media "stars."

Indeed, there are so many ways that track could make itself more professional, at least at major championships. First some alternatives to bibs and stickers, pro track isn’t a local road race.Also it would be nice to have rooms for post race interviews, not just walking past a scrum often in a loud area.

I’d have to disagree. I think she’d be on the podium in the 400 if she trained as a 400 runner instead of 800/1500. and since it’s run in lanes she wouldn’t have to worry about tactics or running in the pack

For many of us the idea of being a pro track athlete is the thing of dreams, but when you talk to actual pro track athletes, it's a very precarious career.

There's not much money unless you are the very very very best, but many are barely making it.

Shoe contracts are cut throat.

Your entire life is dependent on something as fickle as your health. Get a bad cold and miss a key meet and you are done, over do it in practice and tweak a knee/ankle/hip.. that could mean you don't have a shoe contract any more.

You are putting your life on hold for X years while pursuing this track life. While you are off worrying about practice and the next meet (the same stuff you've done sine you were 15), your contemporaries are starting their careers, getting married, having kids, buying their first house... After track is over at age 35 you are a full ten years behind everyone else. No job experience, your degree is 13 years old.

Track is an international sport. I was in some track fan Facebook Groups and some people, especially Jamaicans, are relentless and MEAN with their trash talk.

I left most of the groups; they make let'srun trolls look like alter boys!

Michael Johnson once commented about his stardom in Europe compared to his near anonymity in the USA.

I think a lot of us lose sight of that fact.

The percentage of US track athletes who are married is equl to the rest of the population. You are incorrect to think that they must be single.

This and a lot of people are confused:

In what other sport is the World/League/National Championship NOT the end of the season?

Tennis and Golf don't really have an all inclusive world championship. (And they're individual sports that do very well by the way).

But imagine watching the Super Bowl knowing that these and other teams are going to be playing more games?

Even in high school and college, States/NCAA's are the end of the season. I acknowledge that there are high school nationals in Cross and Track, but you get my meaning.

At the World Championship they were talking about the Diamond League Final.

It doesn't bother me and I get the post World's competition but we're talking about the casual fan here.

She never said anything about Let's Run and it's funny that you think Lets Run is the place she is talking about. She deleted SOCIAL MEDIA, and Let's Run is not that. No one cares about Let's Run, especially not Athing. Now, Jon Drummond's Facebook group - now that's a different story.

If 1.000 people anonymously attacked you online and that was the extent of the people talking about you, I’m positive you wouldn’t enjoy it.

I know a fairly recent pro. He will likely never make a national team but he's elite. He loves it now but he does talk about that anxiety and doubt.

It's not about learning. Athing Mu isn't stupid. She already knows that she is running extra distance and opening herself up to being passed on the inside.

She is just stubborn. She has been asked about it and she insists that's just the way she prefers to run.

Prediction - She won't change and will keep running wide around the turns.

I used to dream of being a pro track athlete. Just run all day, that is the dream right?

Now that I have friends who are pros it is one of the worst careers I can imagine.

Athing Mu isn't fast enough in the 400? Are you kidding me? Athing Mu was a half a second faster in the 400 as a college freshman than Sydney McLaughlin was as a freshman. You know the same Sydney that just ran 48.7.

Athing Mu's time as a college freshman was 49.57, which is the same exact time that the silver medalist ran at the World Championships last week.

Athing Mu definitely would have a great shot at getting a medal in the 400, and maybe even get gold.