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It certainly appears that this "bare minimum racing" mentality comes from Sydney and Mu's coach in common, Bobby Kersee. In her last two seasons, which would be prior to Kersee, Mu had no problem racing throughout the year. In 2022, Mu raced 14 times from January to the WC 800 final. By today's date last year, she had already raced 8 times. In the 2021 season, she raced a whopping 34 times before the Olympic final. Granted, she was still in the NCAA at this point, but I wouldn't exactly say it was a hinderance to her performance in Tokyo.
I won't say Kersee is an ineffective coach, because it's clear Sydney has really knocked it out of the park when it counts. Still, Kersee makes Jerry Schumacher look like a race-crazed maniac. And for what? Nothing about past season's results from either Syndey and Mu would indicate racing through a season has some overwhelmingly negative effect on their championship performances. Perhaps it might be more stressful than their current minimal racing strategy, which I can totally understand. But there is a balance to be struck here. Over-racing can be detrimental and stressful for an athlete, but under-racing can be risky as well. You need those results as you progress through a season to track your fitness and be informed about the things you should work on.
I'll say this too: as much as people might say Sydney and Mu "owe us nothing", they cannot simply ignore the position they have in our sport as reigning Olympic and World Champions, and just all-around dominant superstar athletes. Whether they race through the season or not will have an effect on the amount of eyes our sport gets. As much as they might lament to hear this, their racing schedule literally determines the popularity level of track and field, even just by a little bit. Of course, they have no obligation to race more than they are required to, but it becomes evident to fans what athletes have an interest in putting together fun, interesting, and engaging seasons, and which ones only have an interest in coming out when they can win a medal. If athlete's want to step up and help the sport grow (which there might not be athletes in better position to do this than Sydney and Mu), then coming out for championships is simply not enough.
I'm not a fan of either Mu or Sydney anymore. It's not that they are not amazing athletes or that I don't wish them to do well, even to do amazing things. But neither of them displays much enthusiasm for the sport, so I don't feel too excited about watching them. I also despise Bobby Kersee as a coach and feel that the likelihood of either of them being clean anymore is vanishingly small.
Track and Field overall has been a disappointing sport to be a fan of. In what other sport can you remember two of the greatest talents of all time making a big impact and then following that up with little competition and putting a higher focus on modeling? Not to mention in the wider sport, most of the stars avoiding head to head competition except for one meet a year. It's really become a sport where you could just show me the all time list at the end of each year and it tells the whole story, no need to watch the horrid TV coverage and inane interviews.
This is exactly the mentality I fear Mu has. That her reputation/aura won't hold if she doesn't just win worlds, but wins every race *and* is always faster than everyone no questions asked. So if she isn't in shape to be dominant - not just in the race she does but against everyone at that moment in the world, then she won't race. E.g. Keely setting the WB in the 600m and Athing almost immediately pulling out of the 600m at Millrose.
I don't think that is a healthy mindset (for Athing or the sport).
As for the argument "it is too early to open with August worlds" - the only track women's world champions from Eugene to have run *zero* races in 2023: SAFP (was set to run yesterday but pulled out due to injury), Shaunae Miller-Uibo (just gave birth), Norah Jeruto (banned), and Athing Mu. She's the only reigning women's track champ not to have run once even once in 2023 of her own choice.
I don’t think you have to “fear” Mu has this outlook. This is the woman who dropped out of a mile race with like 100m or less to go because she realized she wasn’t going to win. Fair dues to her for being able to win the championship meets so far, but it’s starting to feel a bit like the old “Rupp certified nonsense. Plus, it’s a little suspicious, almost Viren-esque how she can do nothing for a year then show up at championship time and dominate.
... I think mortality has become her reality and being wise, why not look beyond the track. Get established for a financial future because it's still business. ... I think it's in her best interest limiting the amount of races she enters. She's balancing track along with her future business endeavors. She's not letting track and field consume her. ...
No better way to set up "future business endeavors" than raking a bunch of appearance and prize money. Like most athletes, she will probably be taken for a ride by "business advisors" so she better stock up.
There are other athletes in the group who race more - Akinosun, Prandini, Keni Harrison. I get that they are shorter sprinters, but I think in Mu’s case this is clearly her own preference to barely compete. The way she described Millrose was concerning as far as how hard she took losing in a race that nobody here expected her to win. It seems to me she is very sensitive to her “win streak” and thus is only going to compete when she feels physically near her best and mentally like she can withstand the risk of a defeat. Her two fellow medalists are completely unafraid of showing up and losing, which makes the contrast unavoidable. Moraa ran indoors in merely OK shape, and not a runner suited to it anyhow. Keely has competed plenty of times while somewhat run-down.
It certainly appears that this "bare minimum racing" mentality comes from Sydney and Mu's coach in common, Bobby Kersee. In her last two seasons, which would be prior to Kersee, Mu had no problem racing throughout the year. In 2022, Mu raced 14 times from January to the WC 800 final. By today's date last year, she had already raced 8 times. In the 2021 season, she raced a whopping 34 times before the Olympic final. Granted, she was still in the NCAA at this point, but I wouldn't exactly say it was a hinderance to her performance in Tokyo.
I won't say Kersee is an ineffective coach, because it's clear Sydney has really knocked it out of the park when it counts. Still, Kersee makes Jerry Schumacher look like a race-crazed maniac. And for what? Nothing about past season's results from either Syndey and Mu would indicate racing through a season has some overwhelmingly negative effect on their championship performances. Perhaps it might be more stressful than their current minimal racing strategy, which I can totally understand. But there is a balance to be struck here. Over-racing can be detrimental and stressful for an athlete, but under-racing can be risky as well. You need those results as you progress through a season to track your fitness and be informed about the things you should work on.
I'll say this too: as much as people might say Sydney and Mu "owe us nothing", they cannot simply ignore the position they have in our sport as reigning Olympic and World Champions, and just all-around dominant superstar athletes. Whether they race through the season or not will have an effect on the amount of eyes our sport gets. As much as they might lament to hear this, their racing schedule literally determines the popularity level of track and field, even just by a little bit. Of course, they have no obligation to race more than they are required to, but it becomes evident to fans what athletes have an interest in putting together fun, interesting, and engaging seasons, and which ones only have an interest in coming out when they can win a medal. If athlete's want to step up and help the sport grow (which there might not be athletes in better position to do this than Sydney and Mu), then coming out for championships is simply not enough.
Okay, I'll step off my soapbox now.
....
Too many of Letsrun poster's behave in a juvenile and want to belittle other posters. My post and the very well written post above stated exactly the same thing but mine is riddled with more disagree just because of my name and not the post's content. That is so laughable but what do we expect from the majority of Letsrun posters?
I thought people were making a big deal about nothing when she wasn't racing indoors, but it's clearly a cause for concern at this point. I'm still expecting her to be fine this year, and she's the favorite for Worlds at least until she actually has a bad race. However, despite being maybe the most talented woman ever in her event, it sure does seem like she's afraid of taking a risk and failing, even when the stakes are low. Plus she apparently prefers modeling to track, and while it's her life and she can do what she wants, it's disappointing as a fan that she isn't all-in mentally. I once thought that she could be the one to break that disgustingly fraudulent WR, but I'm more and more worried that 2021 will end up being her peak.
Hope she runs a 1:56 soon though, and makes all of this speculation look silly.
Athing Mu owes NO ONE an explanation...Yes it would be nice to see her racing but this is her occupation and her obligation is to herself not her fans...
She's a professional athlete and Olympic champion. She's getting paid by a large shoe corporation to market their products and the sport. Imagine the Laker's not explaining why Lebron James isn't playing the first two months of the season ('We'll get back to you'). Make something up. It doesn't have to be detailed or too personally revealing. This is reason #5495894 why track isn't popular...
Boy, ain't this the truth. In any other sport athletes actually show up for the season unless they're injured. Athing Mu literally disappears for probably the entire spring season and you're apparently not allowed to say anything about it and if you do people say "it's totally normal". AP is absolutely correct - this is exactly why track isn't popular. G-d forbid the currently most famous women's 400M / 800M runner in the world doesn't actually show up for the spring.
So I am a track & field fan - I like watching athletes race. Sue me.
"I don't know why people get so triggered by Athing not racing more." Look - people don't appreciate how absolutely spoiled we are right now with American 800m running.
People, we have the first, second, and fourth fastest women in US 800m history, **all between the ages of 21-29 (aka still in their prime or close to it) at the same time!**
That would be like getting Noah Lyles vs Michael Johnson vs Tyson Gay or Lagat vs Centro vs Webb when they were all still running their best or near their best. Track fans want to see those three women go head to head and go head to head often.
Globally, We have 5 of the top 10 fastest women in the post Cold War era (discounting banned and DSD athletes) all competing at the same time.
I don't want to see Keely Hodgkinson win seven straight indoor races, running solo 1:57 after solo 1:57. I don't want to see Ajee Wilson win yet another Armory race to take her winning streak into its 10th year there. I want to see Wilson, Rogers, Mu, Hodgkinson, Moraa, Goule, Almanza, Welteji, Reekie, all going at it more often than once a year...
But having the most decorated, fastest, and also most conversationally charismatic of all those athletes racing, doing zero races in the last 300 days sucks. That Mu has done *three* 800m races outside of US champs and Worlds since she won gold in Tokyo sucks even more. More than any of them that's who we want to see the most.
Call me a crazy keyboard warrior for wanting to see great athletes race more.
I miss the days of Said Aouita, where he was racing frequently, going after records nearly every time, and moving to different events because he was getting bored of winning.
It wasn't perfect since he was also guilty of dodging competition in the 1500m, but he raced all the time and even moved down to the 800m at the Olympics rather than run the 5000m which he had dominated for years.
Imagine Mu moving up to the 5000m because she's bored of winning the 800m. We can't even see her compete in the event she dominates.
I thought people were making a big deal about nothing when she wasn't racing indoors, but it's clearly a cause for concern at this point.
At this point, none of the following athletes has made their outdoor season debut yet:
Jakob Ingebrigtsen Jake Wightman Mondo Duplantis Letesenbet Gidey Keely Hodgkinson Laura Muir Gudaf Tsegay Femke Bol Yulimar Rojas Emmanuel Korir Mo Katir
I thought people were making a big deal about nothing when she wasn't racing indoors, but it's clearly a cause for concern at this point.
At this point, none of the following athletes has made their outdoor season debut yet:
Jakob Ingebrigtsen Jake Wightman Mondo Duplantis Letesenbet Gidey Keely Hodgkinson Laura Muir Gudaf Tsegay Femke Bol Yulimar Rojas Emmanuel Korir Mo Katir
Most people on that list raced indoors or have been injured (Wightman). I don't have a problem with athletes racing less frequently in general, the goal is to peak when it counts, and that process isn't the same for everyone. But no matter how you slice it, zero races in the last ten months is a red flag.
There are other athletes in the group who race more - Akinosun, Prandini, Keni Harrison. I get that they are shorter sprinters, but I think in Mu’s case this is clearly her own preference to barely compete. The way she described Millrose was concerning as far as how hard she took losing in a race that nobody here expected her to win. It seems to me she is very sensitive to her “win streak” and thus is only going to compete when she feels physically near her best and mentally like she can withstand the risk of a defeat. Her two fellow medalists are completely unafraid of showing up and losing, which makes the contrast unavoidable. Moraa ran indoors in merely OK shape, and not a runner suited to it anyhow. Keely has competed plenty of times while somewhat run-down.
Can you blame Mu for not wanting to risk going home DEVASTATED if she's not at her best? You make a good point about Keely and Moraa but the difference is neither one of them are Olympic champion. There is a different level of pressure and scrutiny one faces as Olympic champ, especially here in the US. Look at how we treat Centro! He is EXCORIATED on this board and told his career is over every time he has a subpar race. Why would an athlete of Mu's stature want to deal with that?
Heck, I have second thoughts about entering my local hobby jogger 5k if I don't feel like I'm in my best racing shape because I don't want my name associated with slow times. And I'm just some rando track bro! Imagine being Olympic champ!
She wouldn’t go home devastated or get criticized much if she was competitive and lost. Centro gets heat because he’s running 1:53 or 4:05. That’d be akin to Mu running 2:04 or 55 and losing by 5 seconds in those races. If she loses to Natoyo Goule/Ajee Wilson but runs 2:00 or 1:28 I think it’d get some chatter/overreaction but also plenty if it’s just Indoors/April/May
All of those listed and Mu paid their dues so that they can arrange their 2023 outdoor season however they choose! I’ll patiently wait and enjoy their stellar performances later this summer in Budapest. Perhaps I’ll have recovered from my Sifan Hassan hangover by then. No one stays peaked for 60 days!
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