I think she's kerrying SML's basket at the start line
Feels sort of slimy that we hate her her so much? What gives? She had a major injury, that cost her a yr. Doesn't seem she is flourishing under Kersee, I would agree, why do people change what works?
Kersee had a hand in it, I am sure, but this is mostly a young woman who is heavily ambivalent about the pressure of the sport after starting from a young age and being nationally prominent already in her mid teens before dominating the world her freshman year of college.
Agree, Kersee is not a great 800m coach, but there are other factors. We should remember, that she was running competitively in track and field at the club level since she was like 6 years old and quite seriously since middle school. When she arrived on the national and world scene at 16 or so, most of us just assumed it was because she was a "generational talent", maybe not giving enough credit to the years of hard work she and her coach and her family had already put in. Well, what if she is NOT a generational talent? What if she is not a physiological super-human and is just a great talent (like Ajee, Raven, etc.) who just worked very hard for many years and matured a bit early? It can certainly lead to burnout, career fatigue, IMHO. Plus, she was so young when she started she really did not have much of a conscious choice in selecting this sport for herself. If she is just a "great talent" and not a superhuman, she knows how hard she has to work to get back up to where Kelly and others are now and she just dreads it and does not have the passion or drive for it anymore. She's got her awards and accolades and she has a good financial start to life. I would understand her being conflicted about committing 110%.
yes. stay out of club. let your kid run in high school and HAVE FUN WITH FRIENDS!
one year of A&M is probably the only fun she's ever had in this sport.
Feels sort of slimy that we hate her her so much? What gives? She had a major injury, that cost her a yr. Doesn't seem she is flourishing under Kersee, I would agree, why do people change what works?
Ask Jeremy Warner
Jeremy was actually tricked by MJ into making that move once MJ knew for sure Jeremy had a great shot at the WR. MJ denies this, just as he will deny any wrong doing in setting up GST as a cash grab for himself and a few others, and wrecking more than a few people’s seasons to boot.
Kersee ruining Mu. Salazar ruining Cain. Maybe we stop sending our most talented young women to famous coaches, and instead just keep doing what's been working until it stops working.
I agree but on the contrary, Touhy.
Tuohy is not the talent that Mu and Cain were/are. Hardly anyone is, so no shame in that. But I believe she has the determination to come back after hardship and she loves the sport. We'll likely see her again. Mu, I don't know
Tuohy is not the talent that Mu and Cain were/are. Hardly anyone is, so no shame in that. But I believe she has the determination to come back after hardship and she loves the sport. We'll likely see her again. Mu, I don't know
No offense to Cain or Touhy, neither approach Mu in talent. MU was the best in the world. I hope she finds her footing and races well again. She is such a great, happy runner when she does. She is nothing but great for this sport.
Kersee ruining Mu. Salazar ruining Cain. Maybe we stop sending our most talented young women to famous coaches, and instead just keep doing what's been working until it stops working.
Nah, Mu is in charge of her own masterpiece.
No interest = no racing.
She's been done for a while. That's what happens when you do it becasue everyone else sas you have God Given Talent and must comply.
Kersee ruining Mu. Salazar ruining Cain. Maybe we stop sending our most talented young women to famous coaches, and instead just keep doing what's been working until it stops working.
Hang on. All of Cain's PRs came AFTER AlSal had been coaching her for awhile. Later she fell apart, and got even worse after leaving AlSal. It is sometimes the fault of the coach, but sometimes an athlete simply loses it mentally, and no longer has the drive, the focus, the willpower, to put in the tremendous dedicated effort this sport requires. I believe this is what happened to both Mu and Cain. Once you lose it mentally, your competitive career is over.
PS Mu (so far) has taken the high road and not blamed anyone else. Cain took the low road and blamed AlSal, and was later proven wrong when she did nothing after leaving him. You can't lose talent.
Feels like quiet quitting to me. She may just be doing the bare minimum to keep her contract's base compensation.
2024 she ran 3 races at trials and one afterward where she looked miserable and didn't really try. Maybe she needs to finish 4 races plus do Pre if healthy.
2025 she dropped out of a 5k, finished 2 uncompetive 1500s, ran Pre and two rounds at USAs. Finished 5 races including Pre, so gets paid base pay?
I mean she probably would have run worlds for the bonus if she could have made it, but this is not how a person trying to maximize their performance or legacy acts. It is how someone who no longer likes their job but wants to do just enough not to get fired acts.
The only counter factual is that she is able to project such positive energy whenever she does interviews but some people are just good at acting the part regardless of their true feelings.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Jeremy was actually tricked by MJ into making that move once MJ knew for sure Jeremy had a great shot at the WR. MJ denies this, just as he will deny any wrong doing in setting up GST as a cash grab for himself and a few others, and wrecking more than a few people’s seasons to boot.
It's Wariner. Either a typo or "how quickly they forget." He was a great one.
It’s common for women to peak early in life. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nike drops her at year end. There’s plenty of better talent to sponsor. Her career is effectively over. If she qualifies for a global championship again, I’ll eat my shoes.
Feels like quiet quitting to me. She may just be doing the bare minimum to keep her contract's base compensation.
2024 she ran 3 races at trials and one afterward where she looked miserable and didn't really try. Maybe she needs to finish 4 races plus do Pre if healthy.
2025 she dropped out of a 5k, finished 2 uncompetive 1500s, ran Pre and two rounds at USAs. Finished 5 races including Pre, so gets paid base pay?
I mean she probably would have run worlds for the bonus if she could have made it, but this is not how a person trying to maximize their performance or legacy acts. It is how someone who no longer likes their job but wants to do just enough not to get fired acts.
The only counter factual is that she is able to project such positive energy whenever she does interviews but some people are just good at acting the part regardless of their true feelings.
Last year's lack of racing can be excused because she tore her hamstring in May, then she was obviously depressed because of what happened at the Trials.
This year, she has struggled mentally with getting over the Trials. She was honest about that in her interview after being eliminated in the semis at the U.S. championships. She said:
"I think it's alright. I mean, I came into this meet pretty content with, obviously I'm hoping to make the team, but I'm also just happy to be here and able to compete. Like I said, there's been a lot of mental breakthroughs that I had to get myself through. And so just getting myself into this meet was a big challenge."
"When it comes to track, your mentality...takes a big toll. If you're not mentally in it, then your body won't be in it."
"It's just been a lot of things lingering from the past year that's come into this year that's kind of held me back a bit."
"I think I can say I have been very resilient. It's been pretty tough... These are pretty drastic and traumatic things that happened."
"Goes home devastated" is a meme on this site, but it really does apply to Mu's state of mind after last year's Trials. She took that disappointment *hard* mentally, and it's taken her a very long time to move past it. Sounds like an ongoing battle for her.
That's where I think having training partners could make such a huge difference for her. When you're training by yourself all the time, it's so easy to get stuck in your own head because there's nobody else to focus on but yourself. If she had training partners, she could stop wallowing in her own thoughts, be more present, think about what other people are doing, and just have fun with the sport again.
Check out this drawing she made prior to the U.S. championships to try to put herself in the right frame of mind to race:
Notice the use of the word "courage". I think that's regarding her fear of falling. Just overcoming that fear to race again in a competitive environment was a big win for her mentally. I was hoping she'd build off that win and do some racing in Europe this month. Sadly, she decided not to do that.
Kersee had a hand in it, I am sure, but this is mostly a young woman who is heavily ambivalent about the pressure of the sport after starting from a young age and being nationally prominent already in her mid teens before dominating the world her freshman year of college.
Agreed. Many of these women aren't comfortable with the spotlight or pressure. They envision themselves as models. There are increasing signs of it with Adeleke also. She never looked happy all season. But today she has several Instagram stories of herself beaming while getting all glammed up for a festival, while emphasizing how much she is looking forward to it after not getting the chance because she's been racing every summer since age 14.
I didn't think it was a good look for her, after taking criticism for bypassing the relays.
BTW, there is a very similar swimming example with Lydia Jacoby. It won't earn much attention here but there are quite a few parallels. She won surprise Olympic gold in Tokyo 2021 while still in high school. It became famous because she was from Alaska.
Fast forward four years and Jacoby is not a factor at all. Almost immediately after Tokyo she became obsessed with modeling and fashion. That theme overwhelmed everything else on her Instagram. Obviously this is subjective but she is hardly a looker.
Jacoby had a brief stop at the University of Texas. She did manage to win the NCAA title as a freshman, albeit not convincingly. The following year she was not competitive.
Jacoby failed to make the national team for Paris. She didn't even attempt to qualify for world championships this year. She is studying abroad in Madrid and insists she plans to make a comeback for 2028. There are mostly doubters on swimming forums.