Do you think Athing Mu is done?

Milton Mallard is a former sprinter and he coached Athing Mu to an Olympic gold medal. As long as a coach is getting good results who cares what event they used to run?

I don't doubt her ability or talent whatsoever, but she appears to be a head case who has operated purely on winner effect. It's a real thing that can drive a talent to the pinnacle. Women who lose their winner effect are usually less resilient, Rhonda Rousey comes to mind. I think she has a future in continuing to compete in diamond league events and possibly take a shot at 1:53.99, but that's as far as her campaign will go imo. And the modeling thing means nothing if she isn't a global phenom in athletics. Same with many other athletes.

Hopefully

How many will the wrecking ball take out this year? 🧐

it isn't difficult to change coaches

I wouldn't bank on that

I wouldn't count on that

I wouldn't count on that

I think she’ll race again. But IMO she’s blessed with talent and that’s why she competes. It’s not for the thrill of competition. Therefore we’ll never see her reach full potential like Sydney. Mu’s talent puts her with the best but the mental edge to be THE best just isn’t there. It’s not enough to only try and win on race day.

When you write, "It's not enough to only try and win on race day," are you suggesting that she doesn't apply herself in training? If so, do you have any evidence of that? I know what she said about her interest in modeling in that Ryan Clark interview, but being interested in modeling doesn't mean she's not working hard in training. Noah Lyles has an interest in fashion, and he pursues that interest while still putting in his work on the track.

Re: the mental edge to be "THE best", we've seen Mu make choices that indicate she does indeed want to be the absolute best. When deciding which college to attend, she chose to leave her close-knit family behind in New Jersey to go to the powerhouse track program at Texas A&M. That decision showed how serious she was about wanting to become the best.

Then, after she had already become the best women's 800m runner in the world, Mu left her comfortable surroundings in College Station and moved to LA to train under Kersee. At the time, she tweeted: "Coach Kersee has the capability to further enhance by running skills and implement the tools needed to reach my greatest potential." She had already won Olympic and world championship gold medals at that point. She could have easily rested on her laurels and just coasted for the rest of her career, but she wasn't satisfied. Already the best in the world in her event, she made a major change and moved even farther away from her family to try reach an even higher level. That tells me she indeed has the mental edge to be the best.

Wow, talk about random strays. Did the guy steal you girlfriend or something?

Berian retired at 26, not super early in the 800. He had a longer career than most guys who left HS with a 1:52 and college with a 1:48.

As well making the Olympic final once (probably more often than you won state), you might recall that in his post-collegiate career he won world indoors.

Wait, what?

Source?

Why are you lying?

She just got engaged, which isn't exactly a player move. She's public with her relationships and seemed to have one LTR before that. Not exactly wild for a college-aged woman.

As for work ethic, before she broke through and was sponsored by Nike, there were plenty of low-budget videos with her doing very hard work ... usually alone. She certainly didn't come across as having a deficient work ethic.

But sure, some nobody on letsrun wants to say they have inside knowledge.

I don't put much weight on the Gainesville race, Mu was obviously only running to meet contractual requirements. I'm more concerned by how Kersee's handling her-- I think she needs to race more, and I think she should run more 400s (she was a supertalent there too!)

It sad to think of, but from what I can tell, the Mu we know might be done. Of all the events in track & field, 800m success requires the most total mind and body commitment. No matter how talented you are, a female athlete has to work really hard to be a consistent sub-2 athlete. I don't know what 1:54x training looks like, but I have seen 1:57x and it is brutal. Your regular workouts are a lot of the stuff that most athletes don't like doing. I suspect money, the lifestyle and some intangibles will get her to stick around for another year or two running 1:57/58s off of uninspired training. With all of that said, her youth and talent hasn't gone anywhere; it's really up to her. Mu is certainly capable of coming back if she chooses.

I truly wish she comes back for her own sanity; living the rest of your life knowing you could have been the best that ever lived at anything will certainly be a difficult road hoe.

Unless Nike didn't renew her contract for another Olympic cycle, which seem unlikely considering she's an Olympic and World champion, she's not going anywhere.

Nike seemingly stayed linked to Shelby during her ban.

That's an athlete who had a doping positive, and not a single performance on the books since 2020.

Pretty sure they won't cut ties with a woman who, in the meantime:

- Won two Olympic golds in 2021
- Won a WC gold in 2022 and bronze in 2023
- Ran a PB and NATIONAL RECORD in September 2023, all of 16 months ago

it's 1:53

If she'll start a go fund me

Nah, she's too lazy