Athing Mu congratulates Keely

would love to see the underdog status bring back some kind of love or appreciation of running for Mu.

uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

maybe now she can run totally free.

it seemed like this was what happened after she lost at Worlds in Budapest. She almost called it a season, then decided to run at Pre and won in an AR, having fun racing for the first time in ages. But then the pressure seemed to come back in the run up to Paris -- though it also could have just been the stress of her injury so close to the Trials.

sorry but mu to me seems to vaccilate between an ego kind of "i am still a big deal holding forth" sort of vibe and a depressive "i can't be bothered" one. this reeks of the ego end. i am a big deal, things i say carry weight, and i am grudgingly saying you earned this one. she lost to her in budapest last summer. she didn't even make this event.

i assume mu is out on the track plotting her revenge, but the deal is most olympians shift into "who cares" mode for the rest of that season. we generally know this so the more sensible response here is be humble, prepare, quietly put up some times this fall and send that message.

this says one thing, SI said something else, we need a more stable emotional platform.

Please provide the evidence of the bolded portion of your comment above being true this year. Also, please provide the logic behind how Athing's failure to make it through the rounds at USATF Olympic Trials warrants criticism from Athing to Keely?

Each athlete has the responsibility to navigate the process of making an Olympic team. If they don't, they aren't deserving. Period. Sure, 4 times out of 5 they MIGHT have otherwise won, or at least placed in, the qualifying races. But to be a winner - to be the best - one has to perform all through the process and win the final race. Athing did not do that. She knows it.

IMO she is showing class and respect to Keely. Keely has had a stellar season and surpassed Athing's PB. How can this possibly be a backhanded compliment?

to me "congrats" would reflect keely beat her last year and she didn't even get out of our trials. "earned" is weird and like mu was there and got beat by someone who outworked her. she wasn't even there.

to be fair, plenty of athletes have egos. they might act like they are still relevant and will be back next month. their response might be guarded and grudging. fine. but mu was the one in the SI article sounding meek and depressive. which is it?

more to the point, to me, if you get whooped like this, garden variety congratulations are in order, not ego -- she's not shecarri with the weed ban kneecapping her being otherwise ready -- and you go hit the salt mines to get ready for the next one. otherwise this to me comes off as her weird vaccilation on whether she's a big deal or not.

and to me the world bronze medalist doesn't usually bless the world silver medalist if she gets oly gold. it works the other way round. do biles' competitors say "earned it?" so there is some ego there.

i used to play soccer and won a couple state titles. my team beats its rival at state. we lift the trophy. rival says, you earned it. i respect the dude and maybe even a little that it's a fire in the belly statement. until next time, so to speak.

versus i make state and win. rival finishes 3rd in league and doesn't make the playoff. they bump into me after and say i earned it. unless we train together, scrimmage or something, it's an odd comment.

stuff reads different if you've won stuff before. we'd whoop some team 6-0. coach afterwards, wow, we learned a lot playing y'all. next year about the same score. did you really?

It’s classy enough for her to take the time and acknowledge Keely’s victory. She wasn’t obligated too therefore it shows respect.

Someone who doesn't turn up to race her is hardly her main rival.

I suspect Mu's main job now is to work out how she can make some money, and stay away from track.

Yes, Mu is one of the best in the world, but so is Keely, and so are all the others in that race. When Keely and Mu have raced in the past, it's often been VERY close. This isn't an event like, say, the pole vault, where one competitor is head and shoulders above the rest, and it is effectively a competition for silver. Keely's gold deserves no asterisk.

Who??