Athing Mu may skip 2023 World Championships and focus on 2024

We do know some of what is going on in her mind from one of her earlier interviews where she said that she feels intense pressure to win as the big favourite and that was why she was enjoying this season with very little racing. All I did was suggest a way she could compete without that great expectation.

If OTOH she skips Worlds and doesn't compete internationally until the Olympics she will put herself under far greater pressure.

She could do what you suggested but of course she has no chance in the 1500m at this point and she would be taking away a spot from a teammate who also has no chance. If she is going to go she is going to defend her title in an event where if she skips she has not taken a spot away from a teammate.

Right, it's better to just rip the band-aid off and run with the risk of losing. Not racing and building the suspense, and extending her unbeaten streak, only adds to the pressure. What she should have done is purposely race before she was ready, say early season or during a heavy block of training. Get used to losing on occasion.

She's too good for a little rinky-dink meet like Worlds.

she afraid of moraa

I think this was the interview I was recalling:

Well yes but he had broken the WR twice indoors and outdoors and had more than enough gold medals.

If she's having trouble dealing with the pressure for Budapest, being avoidant and putting the pressure off until the Olympics will just make things worse for her. If I were Kersee, I'd encourage her to race more, take her chances against top competition, and figure out that losing isn't the end of the world, but something to learn from and motivate you for the future.

If she just doesn't like the lifestyle of a track athlete, that's fair enough, and maybe she just needs to figure out what she really wants to do.

Very smart. She's a young Olympic Gold Medalist who isn't obsessed with the sport. She is able to compete and win on her own terms. She has interests beside track and competing. Great athlete but there is more to Athing than track.

Imagine Iga Swiatek's coach saying "the preparation is going well, but we are not sure if she is going to defend her US Open title..."

No, I cannot.

the special cocktail takes time ....?

Pathetic. People are bigger fans of Keely because she actually races and is good for the sport. Nothing to do with looks or race. Athing and SML are bad for the sport.

Why? She has no problems and is racing great.

What if she winds up racing? Has any of this crap come from her mouth directly?

Anyways, hopefully Mu is smart enough to realize she didn't owe the fans anything when those "fans" made up there mind a long time ago that they were not going to like her for whatever reason (we know the reason).

Kersee is bad for the sport!

What a pointless press release by her coach. She might run, she might not run, we don't know yet. Why bother making it? Obviously, some people are going to speculate that it might be because she would likely fail a drugs test.

The 800m is a young person's event. Losing a prime healthy year is madness. What else does Athing Mu have lined up to make a living, other than running? Does she actually have a modelling contract/is she likely to get one, given how difficult they are and how much commitment modelling takes? Is she from a very wealthy background, so much so that she does not have to worry about earning a living or a future career?

This is Kersee's way of burying the lead. The lead here is that she is scratching yet another meet, that meet being the Ed Murphey Classic, but no one is talking about that because he masterfully deflected by offering up this maybe Worlds maybe not scenario. She will be at Worlds! I posted a while ago that she was not in a good head space and got skewered by people who are not from LA and have no idea what is going on in LA. I stand by that comment, but also believe she will run at worlds and everyone is just being played by Kersee.

She is NOT a model. She makes $0 a year from modeling. There's a sucker born every minute, so I can understand why some of you believe that something is happening in that world. But the fact that she, herself, doesn't realize that her connection to modeling is similar to Mark Hamill's connection to space travel is just proof that she is indeed, mentally troubled. I'm not sure we will see her surface again. It was a great career.

As someone who struggles with anxiety in my athletic, professional and social life, I have endless sympathy with people who struggle under pressure in competition.

I have no compassion for people who choose not to compete due to vague reasons. Earning a spot on the US team is an honor and a privilege. If she doesn't want to go to Worlds, I'm not going to write nasty things on her twitter but I sure as heck won't cheer for her at the Oly trials.