Mu: "Let us be athletes!" Us: "YES, PLEASE!"

this is fair. we have a culture that is off the charts with binary thinking. either biles is a weak loser or she is the stunning and brave sportsperson of the year.

She shouldn't be beat up, but she damn sure shouldn't be praised either.

I agree here. Athing and her coach were super vague about her season thus far and then about whether she’d compete at worlds or not. She could have been more clear and said look: I’m young, I need a break, I’m taking it, but she never outright said that. the way they handled things going into worlds was disrespectful to the fans and the sport. Of course people are going to ask questions.

speaking to the media is a big part of the sport whether you like it or not. You don’t get sheltered from that when you are now an adult athlete and a star. She should be clear and transparent. She should understand that people are suspicious and yes will ask questions when you act shady

citius is an utter embarrassment. they need to watch old clips of the press fawning over lance Armstrong to get their heads out of the sand and maybe do their jobs with a shred of dignity. There’s a difference between being a hater and asking the right questions. And spare me your fake bewilderment about why track isn’t more popular. It’s because people think it’s doped and you aren’t helping.

Not sure why her actions count as gaslighting, not can I understand how the parameters set in her contract have anything to do with any of us.

All she, or any other professional athlete, has to do is compete and then go home. If she just stays off of social media, or makes it so her account is private and she only interacts with her real life friends, it doesn't matter what people online or on these boards or in the media say.

These athletes that choose to be on social media and then complain about what social media is get no sympathy from me. I also don't want to hear this garbage about being mandated because all you have to do is tell your sponsors no.

No one cares about you. That's why you can hobby jog to whatever race you want and take as many drugs as you feel.

However professional athletes have a contract that requires them to compete in public meets and have availability. The more available you are/marketable you are the more money you make.

Runners en masse make no money because we're recluse shut-ins. The only one making money is probably the annoying Nick Symmonds with his videos designed to hit the algorithms.

That's am amateur runner not a professional. Well you're certainly not going to make money this way.

Bull. Are you telling me if Messi or Lebron decided to drop social media all together they couldn't play? Sure, maybe they would lose a little sponsor cash but theybarwnt going to be broke.

If Federer decided to just play and stop being 9n social media I bet he is still making millions just being seen in his sponsor's stuff.

Unclench you b holes guys. Let her do what she does.

it’s news to me she had a breakup. Not that I’m trying to pry into her personal life, but that would help to explain what’s been “on her plate” that she was talking about. Can be tough for anybody. Is this confirmed?

Nike’s wonder child Galen Rupp has famously never had a social media presence. I definitely think social media is a negative thing for people, especially a Trackstar like Mu. I hope deleting her socials helped her.

but your take is right: when you open yourself up to the world’s praise and adoration, you also become vulnerable to its criticism. Social media can make this especially brutal. Some people are able to brush it off more easily than others. Seems like maybe Mu had a rough go with it this time. Maybe Kersee’s PR trip didn’t help too much with it either.

She is as free to do what she wants as I am to respond to it. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of what Mu has accomplished since Tokyo, and try to be honest and fair in my assessment. But that means I’ll speak my mind when I don’t understand the logic of her behavior.

I honestly doubt she’ll ever see what I’m writing here. But if she does, I hope she knows she has absolutely no obligation to care about what I’m saying merely on the basis that I’m a fan. I’d only hope my thoughts reflect some kind of wisdom, but I doubt they do even that. Either way, she should do what she thinks is best for her, and I have the right to have my totally uninformed and irrational opinion.

She seems to be thinking that track media is the same as football, soccer or baseball media, and it's not.

She got into the pro level of the sport really young and found success really young. I get that it's a lot of pressure. Maybe she doesn't understand that it's the media's job to be adversarial, to ask questions that can sometimes be hard to answer. It's not high school track anymore.

Citius is a joke. They make total fools of themselves and contribute nothing to no one.

Maybe Mu can give this a watch. I found it very enlightening.

Yes, this perspective of hers was very naive and reminded me how young she is. Athletes are uprooting and moving to new groups all the time. This is nothing new and it is certainly not a big deal.

Two things:

1. I'm amazed that no one has pointed out that Mu is exactly the same age as Keely Hodgkinson. Everyone's life is different, but pressure to perform from a national fan base and knowledgeable professional sports media has got to be far greater for a 21 year old British track athlete than for a 21 year old American one. And yet, Hodgkinson has been out there banging away since indoors. The difference seems to be that she wants to be a pro runner and Mu probably doesn't. Differences in the "pressure" each is facing definitely can't explain it.

2. Anyone who has coached highly talented age groupers in running will be familiar with the phenomenon of talent alone not being sufficient to sustain an interest in the sport, whether the training, the racing, or both. What we have in the case of Mu is an example of how even the most extravagant bestowal of talent and opportunity by nature and luck are not always enough to sustain an interest in the sport, let alone the passion it takes to succeed in the long term. But in the end, Mu's demurral of everything she might have been able to accomplish in this sport, while it may be a disappointment for us fans, is not a tragedy. What would be tragic, or maybe just really sad, would be if she let herself or others force her to do a thing she really doesn't have the heart for. Life's too short for that.

I live near Trenton and I was rooting hardcore for one of our own in Athing Mu. That’s all done now. Mu has completely embarrassed herself. She probably makes upwards of $1M a year for, uh, running, sleeping, lifting weights and eating. The entitlement, the cluelessness is so disappointing. You know what athletes love doing, Ms. Mu? Performing in their sport! The fact that she said she was happy that she could stop running and go on vacation is absolutely pathetic. You think Jordan ever said that? You think Tiger ever said that? You think El G ever said that? You think Femke Bol ever said that? Hell no. Mu has exposed herself as a completely spoiled brat who I guarantee you lost at least half of her fan base due to her performance then idiotic comments at Worlds. What a shame.

Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but I don't praise her because she's weathered the yips (though I do get it). I praise her because she is the greatest female gymnast--if not outright gymnast--whoever walked the planet.

You didn't make the comparison to Mu, but for the person who did it's insane: Mu would have to simply perform at level of excellence for much longer than she did, and to be one of the greatest middle distance runners whoevever graced the track. She *could* be that, but it's simply too early to tell.

On the first point, I don’t think it’s been proven definitively that Mu doesn’t want to be a pro athlete. It seems more that she’s going through some type of temporary personal crisis brought on by a lot of life changes in a short period of time, including a VERY recent breakup of a relationship. Hodgkinson, who is a great athlete, no question, may simply be in a better, more stable personal situation and have a more positive mindset as a result.

In her 11 minute interview after the 800 final, I remember Mu making a comment that she had many years in the sport ahead of her. Those are not the words of someone ready to throw in the towel. An athlete ready to quit would not have fought like hell to qualify after what happened in that semifinal race. So easy to just give up - do a Suzy Favor Hamilton Olympic flop, and look for sympathy but that isn’t what happened. She then went on to run a very tactically flawed but courageous final as well. Came up short but left it all on the track.