Investigate Bobby Kersee. Athing Mu survived 1 out of 3 rounds. Wow. Just wow.

Mu is EXTREMELY lazy. She doesn't like running anymore. That's why Kersee doesn't let Mu train with Syd - because he doesn't want Mu's cr*ppy attitude to affect Syd.

All of those coaches would REJECT Mu. Her attitude is toxic for a team.

Mu jogged the last 100m of her race yesterday. She doesn't have the fire anymore.

A&M was muscle memory from high school where Athing Mu broke the AMERICAN RECORD in the 600m as a 16 year old. 1:23.57 in the 600 as a 16 year old is insane.

Exactly. Getting a new coach isn't going to magically make Athing Mu super motivated all of a sudden. She has other issues going on that she needs to resolve. And I hope that she figures out how to resolve them.

Correct. If Nike ever drops Mu before LA 2028, I imagine Brooks would rush the Brinks truck up her home in LA.

Can you imagine what she'd do if she gets back on a real team with a real mid-d coach?

You guys keep ignoring the main problem. Mu would do no better than she's doing now if she isn't motivated.

Agreed. I don’t think the coach is the biggest problem. She ran sub 1:55 in the diamond leavue final in 2023. She probably doesn’t have the mindset anymore

To the gills. It's easier when you're under the radar.

That's great - 3 seconds off her best?

What would we be saying if Bryce Hoppel was in the same situation and hoping to go to Europe and chip things down to the high 1.44's.

This is a bizarre and sad situation. I haven't changed my opinion at all - she should just do herself a favor and retire and do something that makes her happy.

I just saw this article

pulsesports.co.ke

'A Lot More Freedom Now' - Athing Mu-Nikolayev Finds Relief in Letting Go of World Championships Pressure

Pulse Sports

Despite missing the World Championships team, Athing Mu-Nikolayev has welcomed the newfound freedom to finish her season on her own terms.

Open link

“A lot more freedom now, not just holding on to the world championship. So, we kind of do whatever, but we'll go back and probably take a little break and then see what's moving forward.”

I assume it's legit - but what? "So we kind of do whatever" - maybe a few more club meet 5000's to work on racing "acumen" and getting "comfortable" again?

There were no excuses this year - this is professtional athlete being paid at the top of the tree to be running 5 seconds off their best when it matters over 800 meters? Not 5 seconds off in a 5000m, over 2 laps. This is laughable and tragic.

I think it’s important to remember that women peak way earlier in life than men. Maybe she is past her peak and that’s it? She’s also distracted with other interests.

Not sure why this is a surprise for anyone. It was obvious that she wasn’t in the same shape as the top runners.

Weird, has anyone alerted Emily Infeld?

if that's true, kersee should have set her free a long time ago. and now is a great opportunity once again.

These quotes are wild. Imagine if a basketball player talked about being free to play pickup now that they were eliminated from the playoffs.

100% - "I'm glad the finals are out of the picture, a lot more freedom now to see what's up down the YMCA, there is some cool street ball stuff going on, maybe some 3 on 3"

I'm imagining Paul Moser looking at his athlete budget knowing she's draining close to a million dollars out of it making comments like this, simply unheard of in this sport where privilege is very thin.

Her mental state might not be Kersee’s “fault “ but any coach worth his or her salt should be very focused on improving that.

Not sure why Kersee's copping ALL the blame at the moment.

Mu's been with him for almost 3 years now. Clearly it's not working, she's an adult, and she has to take some responsibility for the trajectory of her own career.

Most athletes probably would have ditched the guy a year ago, but she seems content just to keep banging her head against a brick wall.

It's a shame. Her and Hodgkinson could have been a rivalry for the ages.

I'm sure Kersee is trying to improve her mental state. Obviously he hasn't been successful, but I'm sure he's trying. Do you think he's happy that the most talented women 800 runner in history is half assing her career? Of course not.

They treat fully-grown adult women like delicate little petals on here and if they aren't fulfilling their potential, it can't possibly be their fault, it must be someone else's.

It's been almost 3 years now. I think that's a long enough amount of time to determine if an arrangement is working out or not.

Ultimately, Kersee is the employee here, not the employer. Like a tennis coach, it's up to the athlete to terminate the arrangement if they feel it's not working out.

This isn't the coach's fault. Athing simply doesn't want to be here.

"Hard work beats talents when talent doesn't work hard" sums it up perfectly.

which I don't hate Athing. She's getting good Nike money. She got to make an appearance at USAs and compete every so often to satisfy her contract is my guess

im glad the spot went to someone else who wanted it more. It's great she's as talented as she is, but means nothing if she doesn't have that killer instinct to race or train