Mu: "Let us be athletes!" Us: "YES, PLEASE!"

LRC interviewers will say, nice job, or, good luck, which is far more than more traditional sports journalists would ever say. IMHO, track athletes like Mu should be more than happy to get even that.

The one Citius "reporter" thinks she's doing right by the athletes, and maybe they like her approach, but she is not doing journalism. She's a fan doing PR. Her job is to help fans interpret and contextualize what they see on the track or field.

I don't understand why athletes would even care when she says she's proud of them. I'd be like, um thanks who are you? do your job!

Just as a side note, I find it concerning this video opens with Mu saying "I get to leave Budapest tomorrow, I can go home, finally enjoy vacation and stop thinking about Track and Field."

It's not that I expect every athlete to be thinking about T&F 24/7. Everyone needs time to rest. But clearly, this meet was not fun for her; she had to endure it, not experience it. It is obvious she is not in a good mental place with the sport. Are there any other medalists that when interviewed, first say: "I can't wait to forget about this sport!"

I sincerely hope she is able to change her perspective on the sport and come back in a better place. If she needs to take some time off for that, I hope she does it. I honestly feel like if she isn't able to fix her mental issues with the sport, she should consider doing something else. She appears to be burdened by running and a bit insufferable.

I think there's a difference between being an Influencer and being a reporter. The Citius interviewer should def be classified as more of an Influencer, although I think she does belong in the mix zone cause you get more personality out of the athletes. When she was interviewing Athing, I saw her brush a man's hand with a phone away from her and then also push Gault back when he got close to her cause he was trying to record Athing on his phone.

I understand a man getting in your personal space like they don't even see you—had this happen at the airport just now with this older man continually stepping in front of me while we were waiting for luggage. I moved because of the direction of the belt and then he did it again, which was annoying when I knew my suitcase would be one of the first out cause I checked in late. I was hoping to hit him with my suitcase but it didn't work out.

But in this case, I think it's just the nature of the mixed zone for everyone to be in a scrum like that. It's not a one-on-one interview. All these people on twitter were like, they're trying to piggyback off your content. That's just regular chaos in the mixed zone and everyone's free to ask a question.

Also, I was thinking Letsrun is way too small for Athing Mu to care about opinions on the board but I looked for the story of her first pro loss in the NYTimes and they didn't cover it. They did just kill their sports dept and are leaving coverage to The Athletic. But I thought they would have coverage of Worlds. Their last article on her was last year.

Athlete whose ability FAR exceeds her maturation level + Coach who is a complete charlatan and has obviously gaslighted her into believing he knows what's best for her = Nothing good can come from this and the athlete will suffer.

The more the athlete suffers, the more the charlatan coach will try to control her.

Yes it’s such a contrast to other athletes who say they enjoy every minute. And clearly love racing and competing.

If the whole process is making her unhappy - that includes training and competing then it’s time for her to do something else.

While I tend to agree with this take, I don't think it captures the full picture. Mu has a once in a lifetime opportunity to capitalize on her fame beyond track and field. She needs to strike while the iron is still hot, so to speak. The issue is when?

Her schedule the past three years has been uncommonly compressed; win the Olympic Gold then shift focus away from WC on home turf in Eugene? No way. Come back a year later and deemphasize Budapest? Maybe. Refocus on the Olympics? Definitely.

Given that, I can see why she and her team were entertaining thoughts of moving beyond this year's WC.

The good news is that she can rewrite her script to use Paris as her comeback story.

As I big fan of hers, I'm hoping that she can refocus on being an athlete in the next 330 days and get the win in Paris - comes with risks but would be a great Homeric Tale.

Media is a super simple thing for them to do and it's part of the job. Athletes have THE easiest job in the world but always like to ask like it's super tough. The biggest problem with pro athletes is that they never have to grow up. If only they knew what working in the real world is.

There was a story recently about Mu in which she admitted that she really didn't enjoy running and racing very much but did it because she's good at it. I thought I saw a link to it here at LR but can't find it. I remember that she said she much prefers modelling. This can be a problem and again it is like tennis. A few years ago Nick Kyrgios said a similar thing about tennis, he didn't like doing it but had to because he made his living that way. I'm pretty sure that many years before that Andre Agassi made some similar kind of comment.

Next she'll want to work from home

Another point Mu tries to repeat in her interview was “I’m only 21” and “I’m still super young”—I guess to excuse herself for not taking the sport as serious as others, and also maybe to remind people she has plently of time left to run and compete.

While on one hand it’s nice to hear her acknowledge she has lots of time left to have a running career, it’s not like anyone has felt like that career is 100% guaranteed after all the information we’ve received from her through this year. For all we know, she could be out of the sport next year.

At the same time, I guess I just don’t see young age as an excuse for not taking the sport seriously. Is it an excuse to party or something? Frankly, as someone about Mu’s age, I would give up basically all the conveniences of youth if I had talent like hers. Anyone can waste away weekends drinking. Only 1 person can be Athing Mu.

Who is she talking to? Track and field is a small sport and this is a no name website amongst the general public.

She'll submit a virtual time for the next WC.

She JUST won another title. She didn't quit. She did what was best for her life and career when she stopped competing in Tokyo because she could've hurt herself if she continued in that head space. You may think that's weak, but it's stronger to know yourself and make decisions for yourself and own them. It is not a stronger thing to just do everything your coach tells you to do because you want to please them or you have no choice, as you say.

Lets all remember that its possible she just doesn't enjoy pro running. Before you all disparage her, remember that she almost didn't compete at worlds. No healthy athlete would pass up the World Championships - unless they simply don't enjoy pro running. She has the right to not want to run, and she the right to stop when she wants or take a break when she wants. Everyone writing angry posts at her is just salty they won't ever run with in 20 seconds of her time. Don't get mad at her for having other hobbies, don't be mad if she decides to stop running and be a model - and don't be if she wants to race less and walk runways more. It's her prerogative.

I do think that athletes only racing twice a season is bad for the sport, but its worse to have athletes unhappily, unenthusiastically competing. An athlete motivation / mental health crisis is worse for the sport than slightly less competition. And if she starts to regain motivation, it's likely that she will race more. Let her do her own thing.

Like most, I don't expect Mu to be competing for much longer. She gives me such of an Osaka vibe -- likeable enough but a misfit personality for competitive sports.

Sure, and I have the “right” to not want to show up to my job. But I still do it, because it’s my job. At some point for her, not running will result in breach of contract.

it’s not that I’m trying to disparage her for not running a certain amount. I’m observing some concerning things about how she feels about the sport in her post race interview.

I agree if she hates the sport so much, she should stop doing it. I don’t think anyone is satisfied with her gaslighting us from the fact she can’t stand running and would rather do something else.

Was the Citius Mag person Jasmine Todd? She was brutal all week. Cringeworthy. Listened to their podcast for the first time yesterday and she was just as brutal on that. I’d expect her performance from a freshman in high school doing a school project

That iron has cooled considerably after her 3rd place showing.

She lost an opportunity of a lot of money just because she can't cope with a bf/GF relationship break up. She let that interfere with her job.