Has Athing Mu always been so arrogant or is she upset?

Ato Boldin mentioned she rarely smiles this year which was her thing in the past. Something is up either in her personal life, coaching, home sickness, whatever... something is off. Her races usually seem so effortless...but in a Budapest she was visibly straining.

Had the same impression as well. In prior years she’s come across as super likeable and I thought she’d be a long-time star not just for her talent but also for her likeability. Hope that’s her true self and if so, that she’s able to get back to it

I told you bozos

The vast majority of people who have commented/given an opinion on this situation have merely pointed out that she her body language and demeanor have not looked the same at these world championships as she had done at Tokyo and Eugene - that is all they have done. And they are right and she basically confirmed it in her comments after the final - the narrative being a lot of championships in a short space of time - which is 100% correct and valid. People on this message board did it, people commentating the damn event did it.

Yes there are some people who have taken it further and have made stupid comments about certain things but did you ever stop and think for a second that it's people like you that they are targeting and not really Athing Mu?

I feel bad for her - I don't think she wanted to be here for the reasons she alluded to in his press conference. I think she was gently "persuaded" to be here by her sponsor. I think her coach is a tone-deaf idiot with borderline dementia (I have thought that even before his comments going into this) and finally I am actually amazed she medalled today given her states of mind which is actually a testament to her talent.

Mu is not an employee of Nike. She's a paid endorser of Nike under contract with them that has obligations on both sides. I would have thought her contract included bonuses for competing in the World Championships and for winning a medal. The contract may also have included clauses that reduced her pay if she didn't meet targets for competing. Nike athletes have usually been contractually obligated to compete at Pre. That can't be the case this year as it's the Diamond League final and Mu won't qualify as she hasn't run a Diamond League meet.

All this talk about three global championships in a row being too much for a runner is laughable compared to a sport like tennis, which has four major tournaments every year! That's in addition to however many other tournaments they play on the circuit. Tournaments ... as in hours-long matches every day (or at least every other day) for multiple days at a time.

Compare Mu racing 3-4 time in a year and complaining about that being "too much" with Serena Williams or Rafael Nadal's typical schedule in a year. It's not even remotely comparable. And they are scrutinized every bit as much in the media, if not more.

No wonder tennis is 1000x more popular than Athletics and that our sport is dying.

Give Athing Mu a break.I wrote on a different thread that her mind is elsewhere and some people didn't like it.I was bashed. I decided to keep quiet. Anyway I think we should let her take a break and decide what she wants to do and move on from there.

I watched the whole interview. She’s clearly incredibly burnt out. After winning the Olympics, WCs, and getting the AR, there is nothing to motivate her and she just feels the pressure of having to consistently win. She said she’s been going through a lot and no one else can really relate to her. Hopefully she can talk to a sports psychologist or something and use this year as motivation. It seemed like she used to really love the sport but now she resents it.