Its so lame. If you are injured then I don't get why they won't just say that. If not, then this just looks like she is scared to get beat. There is no reason that a 600m race that you signed up for would prevent you from being at your best during the outdoor season.
1. Why Athing Mu gets so much hate for not racing as much as people like you want here to I will never understand. You want the best American 800m runner in like...ever... to fail? You want someone who is consistently kind and gracious to learn a hard lesson for not "doing her job" the way you want her to?
2. She's a 20 year old who has won Olympic gold, defended at WC, and has her sights set on the next WC to defend yet again. That sure sounds like "doing her job". Furthermore, can you imagine the kind of pressure that must put on an athlete mentally, at that age, with so many eyes on you, and so many people wanting to critique your every move? Not everyone is going to handle that the same way. If this is how she stays ready to train and compete, why wish her ill?
3. There is absolutely nothing wrong with only racing when you feel prepared. If anything, it can give confidence in training and competition. The mental drain of competing at that level with that much pressure has to be massive. I'd rather see her stay healthy mentally and physically now and race well when it matters than see a "storyline" of her beating everyone yet again in an inconsequential race that isn't even her real distance.
4. Track is not a team sport. The athletes have ZERO obligation to anyone but themselves (and their sponsors). Plus, it's probably fair to argue that not racing much does more to draw interest to the sport when you have as much status as Athing. It becomes a special event.
Give me a break, Athing Mu gets almost no hate on here. She disappeared without a word after World's and it was barely talked about here, Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare got 5x the crap for running a 4 x mile at Oregon instead of flying across country to run at Penn Relays. She gets so many excuses, its not a lot to ask her to race every now and again.
Also your 4th point is terrible. Not racing much does more to draw interest to the sport is the most delusional take I have ever seen on Letsrun
Its so lame. If you are injured then I don't get why they won't just say that. If not, then this just looks like she is scared to get beat. There is no reason that a 600m race that you signed up for would prevent you from being at your best during the outdoor season.
1. Why Athing Mu gets so much hate for not racing as much as people like you want here to I will never understand. You want the best American 800m runner in like...ever... to fail? You want someone who is consistently kind and gracious to learn a hard lesson for not "doing her job" the way you want her to?
2. She's a 20 year old who has won Olympic gold, defended at WC, and has her sights set on the next WC to defend yet again. That sure sounds like "doing her job". Furthermore, can you imagine the kind of pressure that must put on an athlete mentally, at that age, with so many eyes on you, and so many people wanting to critique your every move? Not everyone is going to handle that the same way. If this is how she stays ready to train and compete, why wish her ill?
3. There is absolutely nothing wrong with only racing when you feel prepared. If anything, it can give confidence in training and competition. The mental drain of competing at that level with that much pressure has to be massive. I'd rather see her stay healthy mentally and physically now and race well when it matters than see a "storyline" of her beating everyone yet again in an inconsequential race that isn't even her real distance.
4. Track is not a team sport. The athletes have ZERO obligation to anyone but themselves (and their sponsors). Plus, it's probably fair to argue that not racing much does more to draw interest to the sport when you have as much status as Athing. It becomes a special event.
According to that logic track would be better off just holding nationals and the WC/Olympics and just dispense with all other meets. Get rid of the DL and all of these indoor and smaller meets so we can build up interest. More fans would follow the sport if Lyles, Jakob, Kipyegon, etc. race as little as possible and save appearances for a few special events.
Its so lame. If you are injured then I don't get why they won't just say that. If not, then this just looks like she is scared to get beat. There is no reason that a 600m race that you signed up for would prevent you from being at your best during the outdoor season.
1. Why Athing Mu gets so much hate for not racing as much as people like you want here to I will never understand. You want the best American 800m runner in like...ever... to fail? You want someone who is consistently kind and gracious to learn a hard lesson for not "doing her job" the way you want her to?
2. She's a 20 year old who has won Olympic gold, defended at WC, and has her sights set on the next WC to defend yet again. That sure sounds like "doing her job". Furthermore, can you imagine the kind of pressure that must put on an athlete mentally, at that age, with so many eyes on you, and so many people wanting to critique your every move? Not everyone is going to handle that the same way. If this is how she stays ready to train and compete, why wish her ill?
3. There is absolutely nothing wrong with only racing when you feel prepared. If anything, it can give confidence in training and competition. The mental drain of competing at that level with that much pressure has to be massive. I'd rather see her stay healthy mentally and physically now and race well when it matters than see a "storyline" of her beating everyone yet again in an inconsequential race that isn't even her real distance.
4. Track is not a team sport. The athletes have ZERO obligation to anyone but themselves (and their sponsors). Plus, it's probably fair to argue that not racing much does more to draw interest to the sport when you have as much status as Athing. It becomes a special event.
Don't get it confused. First off, it's not her job to win global titles. Maybe she's doing what is in her best interest to defend her title (still don't think a 600 in Feb makes a diff). While she has no obligation to compete, that doesn't obstain her from losing fans because she rarely competes. Not everyone is going to give her a pass because she's winning global titles and that's okay. It's not so much that we want her to "fail", but I'd rather have an athlete who competes more and seems more enthusiastic about the sport/fans to win.
Last argument: Athletes not racing might bring more interest in head to head match ups at world's (Hodgkinson vs Mu last year for ex) cause of uncertainty, but it in no way draws interest to the overall sport.
There is the off chance that Athing might suspect that she has already peaked physically and mentally knows she won’t be able to repeat her swift ascent and streak of being unbeatable. The pressure to be the best in the world at something must be difficult.
Mu should do what Hodgkinson did and run some podunk, you vs. the clock only affair. Keely could have raced some big races, but got NIKE money and just showed up at home to run fast. I don't blame Mu, since Hodgkinson ain't racing why line up.
Hodgkinson is racing Mary Moraa and Diribe Weltej tomorrow and will be at the European indoor championships next month. So you need to find a better excuse than that.
Perhaps we should have seen this coming with Ajee' Wilson joined the field for the 600 last week but Athing Mu is out of the 600 at Millrose this weekend.
She hasn't raced since Worlds last year and hasn't lost an 800 since Valentine's day 2020. That was pre-Covid in the US!
So hard to know what’s going on with Mu. Her talent level is off the charts. Her accomplishments to date are epic. Still, you get the vague sense behind the scenes she struggles with motivation or something. I’m sure I’m reading to much into this, still, it’s a little strange when the USA’s best mid distance talent races so rarely.
I wonder if this limited racing is a necessity due to her being physically fragile. She's only 20 and maybe her body struggles to cope with the intensity of pro training and a full racing calendar. It could also be a mental issue where she struggles with racing when there's a possibility of defeat. Dropping out of that mile last year with 100 to go was weird and the kind of thing you do when you don't want a crappy result on your record. When you've been as dominant as she has, then anything other than a win must be hard to process
Show me the 3 page thread where people are wondering why Grant Fisher is dodging the competition this indoor season. Show me the thread were people are saying that it must be because he's lazy, unmotivated, and scared to lose. It would be nice if you guys had the cajones to just admit that you are disappointed she is not running because it is a lossed opportunity to watch her possibly lose. To get knocked down a peg. The fans here, mostly American, will only back an "American" mid or distance star when that star looks like Fisher, Bol, or Hogkinson. Its tribalism, and you guys suscribe to it. So have fun, come championship time, keeping your fingers crossed and cheering for Keely to pull out the victory. Then you guys will come on here to say "what a great time to be a fan of track and field. "
Insulting to Mu to say she is “dodging” or “scared” of athletes she is undefeated against. Wish she would race, but she is not intimidated by Keely or Wilson.
So hard to know what’s going on with Mu. Her talent level is off the charts. Her accomplishments to date are epic. Still, you get the vague sense behind the scenes she struggles with motivation or something. I’m sure I’m reading to much into this, still, it’s a little strange when the USA’s best mid distance talent races so rarely.
I wonder if this limited racing is a necessity due to her being physically fragile. She's only 20 and maybe her body struggles to cope with the intensity of pro training and a full racing calendar. It could also be a mental issue where she struggles with racing when there's a possibility of defeat. Dropping out of that mile last year with 100 to go was weird and the kind of thing you do when you don't want a crappy result on your record. When you've been as dominant as she has, then anything other than a win must be hard to process
Sure, but it is a bit of a luxury problem, isn't it? I can imagine Mu losing to Wilson but not her being destroyed. It would very probably be a worthwhile duel even if Wilson clearly won at the end.
I think it's o.k. to skip indoors although it's not good for the sport's popularity if stars who could race indoors (esp. they don't even have to switch to another distance like 60m or 3000m) race so rarely. It's not great to cancel less than a week in advance. But I think it is also perfectly fine to be discreet about health or mental issues.
Show me the 3 page thread where people are wondering why Grant Fisher is dodging the competition this indoor season. Show me the thread were people are saying that it must be because he's lazy, unmotivated, and scared to lose.
If Fisher had been the current Olympic and world champion, undefeated for years, and he'd just dropped out - at short notice and with no indication of any injury - from his first race in six months then I think you might well have had exactly that.
Its so lame. If you are injured then I don't get why they won't just say that. If not, then this just looks like she is scared to get beat. There is no reason that a 600m race that you signed up for would prevent you from being at your best during the outdoor season.
The athletes have ZERO obligation to anyone but themselves (and their sponsors).
Really? They have no obligation whatsoever to the fans that bought tickets to watch them run? Mu is in the entertainment business. If fans bought tickets to a concert and the performer cancelled a few days in advance don't you think they are at least entitled to an explanation and a refund? But track fans are entitled to nothing? How does that establish loyalty to the sport or athlete?
These kind of drop outs happen in MMA all the time when a fighter who looked invincible gets unexpectedly rocked or wins a very close decision; the very idea that they were close to defeat batters their confidence and they start postponing/cancelling match ups with difficult opponents at the last minute. In the case of Jon Jones, after his very controversial 'win' over Dominick Reyes- he actually quit his division and hasn't fought in 3 years! Ironically, it's often cured by suffering their first high profile defeat and working back from there. Mu looked invincible/a completely different class at the Olympics. Yet one year later, Keely was side by side in the last 100 metres and Mu's elbows stopped her from overtaking just about as much as her speed did. I reckon what we're seeing is a crisis of confidence in someone who knows their invincible streak can't be maintained forever.
High Schooler Sophia Gorriaran will be as disappointed as anyone that Mu isn’t competing. She is slated to be in the 600 and was probably eager to see if she closed the gap on Mu after last year’s Penn Relays where she lined up against Mu and was only about 2 1/2 seconds down on her to take 4th while only being a bit more than 1 second off of Natoya Guile’s pace and placing ahead of Najee Wilson and other pros.
Noah Lyles was quoted as this past weekend as stating something along the lines of “running indoor is important because it brings the fans closer to the athletes and helps generate interest in the sport.” It’s a good attitude and Lyles is enjoying himself. He had a great result last weekend and clearly was having fun.
I always like Mu and hope she’s in a good headspace. She’s a huge talent and is also thoughtful, humble, and respectful of her competitors. I hope she stays that way. Yes, very disappointing that she isn’t competing but Sophia Gorriaran lining up vs the pros will again be interesting and I’m also looking forward to see how close Abby Steiner is to the indoor 300 world record.
The point here is that she has withdrawn from a race, not that an athlete may want to skip indoors. Missing the indoor season to focus on outdoors is fine, but announcing intent to compete and then pulling out isn't good for the fans.
This has nothing to do with appearance fees - that would have been negotiated before she originally announced. This is most likely not in her best form, so DNS.
On the one hand I totally get it; if you are behind in form, then why race, especially if this were her only planned indoor race. On the other, it depends how behind an athlete is; because if you've committed to a race, and are just a bit behind, then why not just go ahead & compete, for the fans? To me, this is most certainly about confidence, about Kersee protecting his athletes rep (Syd in the 60m doesn't count; that's so far away from her main event she can lose) and about reputation. I do think Hodgkinson's 600m WB hasn't helped, as there can be a direct comparison to Mu's performance. Maybe if Keely hadn't run that 600m, then MU would still have run. I don't know, but I just hope this doesn't become a habit.
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