Athing Mu goes home DEVASTATED as she refuses to run on the rail!

Yeah, I hope she can find another career that pays $300k/year at 21 years old.

She wasn't strong enough, and when she "hit a wall" that's when she was passed. She could be strong enough to run 56/58. Her season was too short. Can she even run 50 for 400 right now? She should always be in sub-50 shape in her young years.

If she were strong enough, she should have at least run two times in the mixed 4X4 because that definitely helps the 800 performance for many 4/8/15 athletes. Those 400s helped her tremendously in the past.

There are much better coaches than BK for her and others.

I heard Rai Benjamin say something similar in his interview that the lack of racing was felt...Rai and Mu are the best things out of the US right now not named Noah Lyles, but I cannot stand that excuse.

Bol, Lyles, Kipyegon, Richardson and Hassan (even if Worlds didn't go her way, she still leaves w/two medals) succeeded likely due in part to their higher volume of racing. Benjamin had gold in his hands-if he raced a few more times

Mu should have won running backwards in a field like this. Hodgkins was her only competitor on paper and she was so incredibly beatable.

Only hope they learn for next year...

Though I'd put my next years' salary on Sydney racing no more than one (1) time before USAs

Not inconceivable at all.

Her talent is undeniable. That said at the world level it isn’t enough. Her heart doesn’t seem in it right now and the last 100 meters of todays race showed that. She acquiesced her place at the front without much resistance. The fight wasn’t there like it needed to be. She also needs a middle distance coach who understands how to train 800 meter runners, which is her best event. The 1500 has become a distraction, pulling her away from the training she needs to excel at 800. She is a pure 800 meter runner and has to take the event more seriously. She is young and has so much time ahead of her. Hopefully, this season refocuses her, and it serves as a teachable moment. But please find the right coach, stop dabbling in off events, focus on your signature event, don’t take other athletes for granted who also can beat you, and avoid distractions.

Just watched the interview posted here and… have her upper teeth moved out? More pronounced of an overbite than we saw in past years? That is a telltale sign of… um… of being coached by Bobby

Benjamin has said he was injured for a large portion of the summer with a quad issue. Yes, he's done some "dodging" in the past, but I don't believe that's what happened this year.

Hodkinson ran the last three turns on the rail, while Mu was a half lane to her outside. That's about six meters right there. Then Mu leaves the the lane wide open on the homestretch, which is probably worth another meter or two versus having to move outside to pass. Altogether she spotted Hodgkinson eight meters, then lost to her by just two meters. Mu could have had silver today simply by running on the rail.

Also a sign of wisdom teeth crowding. You think you are a top detective don't you?

A lot of assumptions that she can make 200K a year from modeling. Narrow logical assertions, all based in a vacuum. What do you know, exactly?

I'm not American, I'm British.

Mu makes a lot more than $200,000/year fromrunning. And she would make a lot less than $200,000/year from modeling.

I'm a fan of the sport more than anything else, most of my favourite athletes of all time are not British.

Bobby Kersee is not such a great coach. He has great athletes. I think Athing Mu is a natural 800 meter runner, you don't put her in the worlds without training for that meet as an 800 runner, not the 1500,400 or whatever. That was a horrible decision and an embarrassment. If I were her, I'd get a new coach. He sucks. The worst part about it is, she should have and could have won. Shame on you Bobby

Agreed. I was there and she just seemed way too nonchalant about the race. Like she didn’t want to be there. Also not racing very much this year didn’t help her in an event like the 800m. It’s scary to think how good she could be if she was more into it.

I think this is the right take here. Despite whatever one thinks of Mu's motivations, she does strike me as simply being burnt out. I've known people from all walks of life who simply hit a wall in their careers, life priorities, etc. They benefit from having some time away, reprioritizing what's important to them, and then coming when it's appropriate.

The lane 2 aspect is ridiculously overblown. Mu at her best can clear the field with ease and extend. She hasn't been at her best since Eugene 2021.

Moraa always causes tactical problems for Hodgkinson. In this final she gave trouble to Mu. As someone else posted, Mu had to go out quicker than she wanted to 200, due to Moraa. Then she had to slow it down because she knows she's not in ideal shape.

I don't think it's a given that Mu restores full energy and urgency, Olympic year or not. If she's still semi-interested the race figures to play out very similar to today. If she is prime prodigy she keeps going and Moraa is flailing away 5+ meters back.

Front running the 800 is absolutely the best strategy for ultra elite. But such a fine line between when it's an advantage and when it turns into a negative. Mu in current form might have been better off using the Arop reversal.

Hodgkinson is like that old college football gag radio show Leonard's Losers. That's the way to pick her, regardless of popularity or name recognition. She simply doesn't have the raw speed of her two main rivals.

You aren't very good at math if you think running thatvm wide is not an Issue. It adds 1/2 second to her races.

Somebody lied to her