Athing Mu had a TORN Hamstring + her team wants the Trials systems overhauled to protect stars

Tell me you've never competed at a high level in the 800 without telling me you've never competed at a high level in the 800.

I think it's entirely possible that we have the best system possible in place and that it still will never be perfect. Contrary to what many in government think, sometimes the best course of action is to not do anything. In other words we don't always need to "change something."

End of.

I’m in Eugene and saw her running today at the the South Eugene HS track. She wasn’t going fast, but looked completely fine.

Nia Akins, Steph Bruce and Hansons were also there and I’m sure can confirm

It's a standard rule. She probably won't bribe US AT to abuse her.

To much changes after 4 years. Bolt would have competed at Tokyo and by his own admittance would not have deserved it.

she was modeling on an elevated runway, took a wrong step on the short stairway.

On the podcast they were saying IF she ran a decent 400 in the next few weeks

I think the previous poster is not suggesting a four year auto entry. Only previous year world champs would make Olympics

I think Kersee shares a lot of the blame for Athing's fall.

Watch the semi. She had obviously been told to get to the rail instead of running an extra 5-10m in lane 2 the entire race.

She made almost exactly the same move in the semi to get to the rail, but the semi didn't go out as fast and she had more room to merge from lane 2 to lane 1 without tripping. In the final, she again tried to merge, but she was now in a crowd.

It was a rookie move on Mu's part. When the gap wasn't there, an experienced runner would have held position on the inside of lane 2 through the turn and then established position on the rail coming down the front stretch.

Kersee should have told her to get to the rail, but don't force it if the gap isn't there.

Mu has always had so much talent that she didn't have to learn tactics. It came back to bite her in this race. Tough, but that's racing.

Agreed. She’s clearly not in shape to win - or possibly even medal - in Paris anyhow, so who cares about any of this?

It’s not like she popped a 1:53 two weeks ago and has been on a mission to win Olympic gold. She hasn’t raced all year, then looked like shiit (compared to her old self) in her heat & semi. Why are some trying to get her to Paris so bad?

Exactly. Selection committees are used for some or all entries in a lot in other countries, maybe even most countries that can put up four or more potential entrants in any event. I’ve always liked our system the best because it eliminates all the BS that comes from committee selections. And there’s a lot of additional BS that often follows, like selectors leaving entries unused because they decide some athlete is unworthy even though they’ve got the time, the ranking, or whatever to get in. You start with the committee saying “we just pick the third spot” and it leads to additional BS. Best not to even start down that road. Keep the Trials as they are. Mu losing out is no different than a 1-seed in football taking an upset loss in the divisional round or something. It happens, sports are best when the result is decided in the arena by the competitors, not on paper by administrators. And you know people understand this concept because they’re mad Eric Holt was DQ’d, and by the book or not it “feels” wrong somehow. Sports fans would feel likewise if some admin said Whittaker is out and Mu is in, because reasons.

Agreed. An article in the UK about Mu’s fall described out Trials system as “self-defeating,” and yet their federation famously forced a 10k runner to do a hard fitness test within days of the Olympic race to “prove” she was worthy in the selection committee’s eyes, and has a history of leaving lanes unfilled despite having qualified athletes they could enter. No thank you. Certainly for a bigger country that has more potential Olympians than openings at the Games, a trials meet is “the worst system except for all the others.”

Excuses and excuses. Done with Mu. Best 3 made the team and congratulations to them. She can go chase her dream of modeling.

Too hurt to race? too hurt to file an appeal? Sounds like damage control for bad coaching or an athlete who wants to save face for really not wanting to run anymore.

This was my first thought. The agent is doing some wordplay here by calling it a “torn” hamstring when basically any strain is a tear to some degree. Of course they know people reading the statement will assume she almost lost her leg and miraculously bounced back. I think it’s absurd to think she could go from a serious tear to looking pretty close to healthy at trials. Including the “tear” detail in the statement also feels a little slimy when it shouldn’t have anything to do with a protest/rerun etc.

I also have this crazy idea where she does a “re-run” but it’s against a diamond league field and she runs for points/prize money and then she does it a few more times over the summer and possibly competes in the DL final. She can have as many re-runs as she wants all summer long and get paid to do it too!

Except you forget all the controversy when certain athletes were NOT picked for their federations Olympic teams (this happens a lot with the Kenyan and Ethiopian federations).

Think of the outcry if you allow discretionary choices are made, and for instance it's a NIKE athlete getting picked over another athlete with similar credentials. This site would have a meltdown.

This opens up a whole new level of questions. What if Athing MU only ran 2:00-2:01 winning a prelim/semi? Does that show enough fitness as a defending champ to send her? What if she was at a different stage in her career....won gold at 29 years old and now it's 4 years later...do you think the upside to defend is really there?

I think the system you describe people would like it...until they don't. Sponsored athletes getting preference to unsponsored, certain sponsors may have more influence than other sponsors. Keep it straightforward where everyone knows when the race is over, that's the biggest excitement of the trials...

Her fall was a coaching problem. Holding her out and not being race ready then she tries to cut in without a feel for spacing. Shame on them putting all the eggs in one race keying for Olympics and failing. She wasn't ready and had not shown the speed and endurance to be ready. Time for a coaching change.