She just won a world medal, which if I recall is an amazing achievement.
She just won a world medal, which if I recall is an amazing achievement.
2024 Paris Olympics USA women's 800 team: Nia Akins, Raven Rogers, and either S. Hurta-Klecker or Addy Wiley. Other potential team members will be retired, on-vacation, or have minor injury issues and choose to miss US championships.
Now I think we know why Mu was thinking about not even showing up to Worlds. She was afraid. Not racing this year, probably knew she wasn't as sharp as in the past. Considered just not coming because she was scared of losing. Probably her sponsor balked at the idea of her just not showing up and put some pressure on her.
From all her drama about worlds this year I'd say she can't handle the pressure well. Before she was the young person upsetting more experienced athletes by winning the last two championships (along with every single race she ran). Now she's the expected favorite and is expected to always win and seems like that is getting to her and she wanted to dodge the competition this year.
This loss is either gonna kick her in the butt and make her interested in the sport again as well as take the pressure off of being expected to win every race, or it'll just make her lose more interest and she'll fade away to try to be a model which is what she seems to want to do. Though to be honest if she's no longer competing as an elite runner her modeling career probably doesn't take off, she needs the acclaim of being the international athlete to make her be popular enough to stand out as a model.
She should really get her heart back in the sport and focus on it rather than thinking she's done with the sport just because she dominated for a couple years at a really young age.
If it is an anxiety related issue then wouldn't the best way to tackle it be to race and get it out of her system? That the sky would not fall if she loses. But maybe she no longer enjoys being a runner.
Long stride doesn't want to get tangled up like Morgan Uceny.
mathematics wrote:
Make $200,000/yr from running. Train hard everyday, race highly stressful international competition, stick to a strict diet, have people jab at you online, have a 5-10yr career life, post to instagram, be an image for a company.
Make $200,000/yr from modeling.
Train hard everyday, race highly stressful international competition,stick to a strict diet, have people jab at you online, have a 5-10yr career life, post to instagram, be an image for a company.I know which one sounds easier.
Neither of these sound the least bit challenge (as in real world challenging) or stressful.
I hate to be the one to break this to y'all: no matter what lane she was in on the final straight she doesn't win because she didn't have it that time. Two people are trying to pass her from different sides, she tried to block one, but couldn't and got beat by both.
Mu has a few racing problems.
1. She can't change gears. She has a great long stride and ability to sustain an outstanding pace, but she holds or fades in the last 100m consistently. Her turnover never changes or slows (endurance?). Her competitors visibly increase their stride rate.
2. Her long stride is a hindrance in a pack. See prelim near fall.
3. She does not seem to know how to handle it mentally when she is challenged. This is similar to Alan Webb who could run excellent time trials, but fell apart when challenged.
She is able to win when she has a decent lead, which has been most of the time. But her competitors have realized that they can be faster at the end, so they just need to be close. It almost worked for KH last year and did work for MM and KH this year. Others looked like they had the necessary kick in the semis, but didn't come through in the final.
She is 5'10". Many male 800 runners are 6'3". She doesn't have a longer stride than the average male but people claim that she gets tangled if she doesn't stay clear of other runners. Maybe she is just clueless.
Better you say? Look at their personal bests and then you'll see. Mu ran how many 800s this year? She's obviously not in peak shape or close to it. Maybe you don't understand track enough to see that.