I am very proud of Athing Mu bronze medal. I was hopefully optimistic but in reality with only 2 races before Worlds she was so under raced. She went for it still and I am elated for her 1:56.6.
Under raced and less than optimal training and STILL RUNS 1:56.6. Take your break, stay healthy, and give the world a sub 1:55 next year.
CONGRATULATIONS
why is VIPAM getting killed for this post? everything said here is perfectly reasonable. She does need to race more. HOpefully this result shows her that. Now she can take her little vaca and hopefully come back ready to compete next year.
Take a vacation from what though? That's the rub, it was not or is not from running, she barely competed in the sport this year. You cannot make this something its not. I mean you could I guess, but come on now.She said in some article it was a busy two years? Well that should have been mitigated by the non competing for like 7 months at all ,right? No? Am I that far off on this?
Take a vacation from what though? That's the rub, it was not or is not from running, she barely competed in the sport this year. You cannot make this something its not. I mean you could I guess, but come on now.She said in some article it was a busy two years? Well that should have been mitigated by the non competing for like 7 months at all ,right? No? Am I that far off on this?
Take a vacation from what though? That's the rub, it was not or is not from running, she barely competed in the sport this year. You cannot make this something its not. I mean you could I guess, but come on now.She said in some article it was a busy two years? Well that should have been mitigated by the non competing for like 7 months at all ,right? No? Am I that far off on this?
She ran only 3 meets this year. That's not even close to "busy."
Plus she already took a long break at the end of last season.
The truth is that her heart just isn't into being a professional runner right now.
Oh I agree, but....It wasn't this year she was busy..that could never be credible even, it was the 2 prior,..... and my point even if she had run a ton.....she ran so little in the 8 months prior to this..she should have been training and resting appropriately. This story is just absurd, for those who even defend this ?
But why would Mu be under trained OR under raced? I do not get that at all. And all this talk about the need for some training build up for Olympics over a year away, what is that BS? Seriously ? Same with McGlaughlin? Some were saying, so what is she didn't run...she can double at next years Olympics...Are you serious? Neither can handle the load to even dominate this year apparently? MU had run 1:55.0x before,,,and with her 400M speed wheels should have beaten this field anyway, this was not some Moral Bronze..please. Not many are getting the" kid gloves treatment they get..certainly not Jakob the other day? Kersee had two plainly favored for gold" medal highest profile athletes ever, one got an under performing bronze and one DNS'ed.
Again, why was Mu unfit? At this point?
Who knows why she wasn't racing this summer - that's between her and her coach. Based on that postrace interview, it sounds like she's been dealing with some things. If she doesn't want to share any details, that's her business. Could be physical, could be mental or emotional. She's 21 years old, moved to the west coast away from family, new training group, burden of huge expectations on her shoulders, etc. The other women in that field were super fit and sharp, and perfectly capable of sitting on her shoulder through a 1:54-55 type of race. These are human beings and to win at that level, you've got to be damn near 100% physically and mentally, and firing on all cylinders. If you don't understand that, then I'm betting you've never competed at a very high level in this sport (which is fine - that's not a personal shot). Based on what I saw and what she hinted at afterwards, Athing seemed shaken up from that semi fall and scared to be anywhere but in the lead. Maybe that frontrunning tactic would have worked again if she were sharper at this point in the season, but who knows. Either way, nobody is going to remain undefeated in this sport these days. Bronze medal on an "off" day against those runners is still impressive.
She ran only 3 meets this year. That's not even close to "busy."
Plus she already took a long break at the end of last season.
The truth is that her heart just isn't into being a professional runner right now.
Oh I agree, but....It wasn't this year she was busy..that could never be credible even, it was the 2 prior,..... and my point even if she had run a ton.....she ran so little in the 8 months prior to this..she should have been training and resting appropriately. This story is just absurd, for those who even defend this ?
Athing Mu did take a very long break at the end of her 2022 season. That should have been plenty of rest.
She lost all momentum and at least .75-1 sec in her semi and she still wasn't going all out. She is pissed and that's a good thing, if she IS NOT injured from that near fall (sometimes adrenaline always you to finish before you notice something wrong) than she's the favorite for Gold.
The way she walked off the track without being interviewed shows she is pissed. Good Athing if your healthy show them this is your event and you don't clip the defending champ. Go sub 1:55
Uhhhh????
Clearly showing your inexperience and lack of knowledge.
But why would Mu be under trained OR under raced? I do not get that at all. And all this talk about the need for some training build up for Olympics over a year away, what is that BS? Seriously ? Same with McGlaughlin? Some were saying, so what is she didn't run...she can double at next years Olympics...Are you serious? Neither can handle the load to even dominate this year apparently? MU had run 1:55.0x before,,,and with her 400M speed wheels should have beaten this field anyway, this was not some Moral Bronze..please. Not many are getting the" kid gloves treatment they get..certainly not Jakob the other day? Kersee had two plainly favored for gold" medal highest profile athletes ever, one got an under performing bronze and one DNS'ed.
Again, why was Mu unfit? At this point?
Who knows why she wasn't racing this summer - that's between her and her coach. Based on that postrace interview, it sounds like she's been dealing with some things. If she doesn't want to share any details, that's her business. Could be physical, could be mental or emotional. She's 21 years old, moved to the west coast away from family, new training group, burden of huge expectations on her shoulders, etc. The other women in that field were super fit and sharp, and perfectly capable of sitting on her shoulder through a 1:54-55 type of race. These are human beings and to win at that level, you've got to be damn near 100% physically and mentally, and firing on all cylinders. If you don't understand that, then I'm betting you've never competed at a very high level in this sport (which is fine - that's not a personal shot). Based on what I saw and what she hinted at afterwards, Athing seemed shaken up from that semi fall and scared to be anywhere but in the lead. Maybe that frontrunning tactic would have worked again if she were sharper at this point in the season, but who knows. Either way, nobody is going to remain undefeated in this sport these days. Bronze medal on an "off" day against those runners is still impressive.
No one cares!!! Work Harder!!!
This is the world championships, and although your "Dr. Phil" analysis is credible but not a groundbreaking diagnosis...No one cares!!! She's not injured, hasn't been injured (the best of our knowledge), "Was" the defending world champ, is the defending Olympic champ, is being paid a sh^tload of money (deserved), and is being coached by one of the greatest coaches ever (I'm not sure about the 800m-1500m). I'm not shedding any tears. The bottom line is that for whatever reason she didn't show up and defend her title...PERIOD! Oh well, go home, get your mind right and ANSWER THE BELL in France next year. She's an amazing talent, but talent isn't just physical, it's also mental and every world class athlete has to navigate this.
This is the world championships, and although your "Dr. Phil" analysis is credible but not a groundbreaking diagnosis...No one cares!!! She's not injured, hasn't been injured (the best of our knowledge), "Was" the defending world champ, is the defending Olympic champ, is being paid a sh^tload of money (deserved), and is being coached by one of the greatest coaches ever (I'm not sure about the 800m-1500m). I'm not shedding any tears. The bottom line is that for whatever reason she didn't show up and defend her title...PERIOD! Oh well, go home, get your mind right and ANSWER THE BELL in France next year. She's an amazing talent, but talent isn't just physical, it's also mental and every world class athlete has to navigate this.
Huh? What's the point of your rant? "Work harder"? Who says she didn't work just as hard as she ever did this past season. All we know is that she didn't race as much. "Didn't show up"? Uh, yes she did. She got tripped like hell in her semi, regrouped, fought back, and advanced. That was unreal and anyone questioning her toughness or desire to compete is a moron. She ran hard and well in the final and very well may have won it, except for the fact that she led the race... questionable tactic. That's not "work harder," that's arguably just race smarter. She never made excuses or quit on anything - she ran tough. Your post was worthless but thanks for the rant. The backlash against Athing is a big and lame overreaction for a 21 year old Olympic and World Champ with a new coach and new coast. She ran just fine and won bronze. She'll be back and she'll be fine.
