Why is everyone pushing Athing Mu to run the 800? Run the 400 and 4×400!!!

Better at the 800 wrote:

Sopa de Sabadell wrote:

Avoiding competition is not the stuff the champions are made of.

Athing Mu got a strong mind and confidence in her abilities. She will have much more fun in the 800m, considering that she is 5s faster over 400m than the next fastest 800m runner.

She will be jogging through the rounds in 2:00.

Yes it's crazy to think. She's a 49 second open 400 runner, who is conditioned to be better at the 800. I'm a guy, but I could only run a 52 400 at best, but I could run 1:57-1:59 any day of the week, 1:55 on the right day. Athing will have no problem running 2:00 to keep advancing to the next round and then have one hard effort in the championship race where we'll see a 1:56 or better from her.

what is your 1500m PR though?

George213 wrote:

Better at the 800 wrote:

Yes it's crazy to think. She's a 49 second open 400 runner, who is conditioned to be better at the 800. I'm a guy, but I could only run a 52 400 at best, but I could run 1:57-1:59 any day of the week, 1:55 on the right day. Athing will have no problem running 2:00 to keep advancing to the next round and then have one hard effort in the championship race where we'll see a 1:56 or better from her.

what is your 1500m PR though?

Who cares since the WR holder never even ran a 1500?

Based on current times run by other athletes so far this year, I'd say the 800m seems to be the better option considering the fact that she has the second fastest time so far in it, in contrast to the 400m where she does have an outside chance of winning a medal in the women's 400m though not as strong as in the 800m. And I'd reckon though that Salwa Eid Naser is her strongest opponent as the current world champion then the two teen phenoms from Namibia and besides Shaunae is only running the 200m in this year's Olympics. Not to also forget shericka Jackson who seems to get it right most of the time on the big stage when it counts.

What about Jonathas and other 49 sec. Americans who ran strong times 2 years ago?

I am looking forward to see Mu against strong 800m competition.

But I think it is an error to assume rounds would be easier for her because she is so fast in the 400m. Two rounds of 2:00 are less hard for a 1:57 sub 4 1500 type than for a 49 1:57 runner. IF Mu is already at 1:55, than 2:00 gets easier for her, but then because she is simply faster in the 800m than the 1:57 runner, not because she is so much faster in the 400m.

Jo72 wrote:

Two rounds of 2:00 are less hard for a 1:57 sub 4 1500 type than for a 49 1:57 runner.

I disagree. Those 2:00 in the rounds are full on sprints in the last 50-60m. 800/1500m type gets their legs taxed really good in such races. Especially considering that most of them are 1:58 runners at best. All Mu has to do is sit and kick.

This goes against any experience. Someone like Muir can run a 3:57 1500 or so after a 61 first lap. Or a (sub) 2:00 last two laps after a slow first 700m (like Dibaba and Kipyegon in 2015-16). Or a 59 last lap in a 1500m race in 4:00. As long as it does not go really fast (such as sub 57 first lap) many sub 4 1500m runners are fine with a lot of changing tempi. A 61-59 split prelim is certainly not more taxing to her than to a 400/800m runner.

I'd grant a lot if we assume Mu is a 1:55 low runner already. But all experience has shown that typical 400/800 types (which Mu is probably not), such as R. Rogers struggle more with running several rounds of 800m and also struggle more with differently split races. If Mu does better than them it is because she is a lot better in the 800m, not because she is so much faster in a 400m.

She is great at both the 4 and the 8. She has to look at the OT fields and decide which race gives her the best chance of making the team. She will be on the 4x400 as someone has already mentioned unless there are 4 others who can split 48 point.

if your equally good 400/800 run the 400 wrote:

Most on let'srun ... wrote:

Most on let'srun cannot and never have raced sub-60 400m. Let'srun mentality is to encourage everyone to race the event that is the upper limit of one's ability.

Yeah I agree! Also I think a lot of people just have heard her name with the 800 so assume she has to run that event

I don't get why she would want to change and step up to an event that she hasn't been training for when she keeps making progress in the 400. Or at least hasn't been competing in and I imagine her training is more geared towards 400

Mu is not stepping up the 800; she is stepping down when she runs the 400. She has always been a half miler who on occasion steps up to the mile or down top the 400. Of late I would call her a 400/800 athlete who is equally good at both.

Very good points. I don't want to label her as a 4 or 8 runner because of her recent NCAA 400m record of 49.57. That's incredible and she is a freshman. There are many amazing 400m runners in the NCAA and it takes a world class runner to step down in an event and win in an NCAA record time.

According to athletic.net. She has run 4/800 in 2021. 206, 201, 158, and 158... so she can run a 2-minute with no effort not sure why she is running a 206 and a 201. Anyway I think she's a really good runner and has a good shot at either distance

My only point is that if her coach is having her around the 400 and the relay , I think that's probably for a reason because he or she thinks that the 800 and the relay would be too much.

Shes so damn good she can run whatever she wants and will do great.

Some good info about the schedule. If the schedule is really conducive with no overlap then it's less of a concern

I don't know I still think though focusing on the 400 wood give the team a better chance to win the gold in the relay. And as someone else said she could maybe even do the mixed relay as well.

I also think if it's not broke don't fix it. Things are going really well and I'm sure that training would have to be adjusted a little bit for the 800. Another words I mean I think there's a reason that she's running all these 400 recently. I think it's a smart move but I think it's because the coach knows that it's a much tougher double to be doing an 800 and a 400

She will be in the 4x4

highhoppingworm wrote:

She has the second fastest time in the world in the 800 and the fourth in the 400.

Are we choosing between a Silver medal and a 4th place finish here?

Tough one

She should have doubled.

* wrote:

highhoppingworm wrote:

She has the second fastest time in the world in the 800 and the fourth in the 400.

Are we choosing between a Silver medal and a 4th place finish here?

Tough one

No we aren't. The 400m final is much more likely to place athletes in order of pb/sb. Again, check out what Nakaayi's pb was when she won the World title. She is 2.41s slower than Wilson. That's roughly the equivalent of Talitha Diggs beating Mu over 400m.

Coach of a athletes wrote:

She should have doubled.

No she shouldn't have, not necessarily

It's 3 rounds the hard way whether she contests the 400m or the 800m, but her chances are somewhat better in the 800m

You're pretending as if the likes of Quanera Hayes, Lynna Irby, Allyson Felix and Kendall Ellis haven't been preparing to run well under 50 this weekend. All four of these women have made teams in the past and know when to peak when it counts. It's better to put all her energies into the 800m, where Wilson and Rogers are likely her biggest challengers.

It's smart for a 19 year old to focus on ONE individual event her first go round at the Olympic trials.

In 2024, she'll be all of 22 years old and hopefully there'll be a successful lobby for a 4/8 double.

ContextisKing wrote:

According to athletic.net. She has run 4/800 in 2021. 206, 201, 158, and 158... so she can run a 2-minute with no effort not sure why she is running a 206 and a 201. Anyway I think she's a really good runner and has a good shot at either distance

2:01.07 indoors at some invitational for the win

2:05.61 indoors SEC heat for the win.

1:58.40 a day later in the final for the win.

1:57.73 outdoors at some invitational for the win.

All she needs is to sit and kick through the heats for 1:59, the same but in 1:58 at the semis and then have some Ethiopian pace her to 1:55 PB.

That's where I ask myself how well she can run in a pack / not solo. If she can handle that well, gold is locked. I guess we will see at the trials.

She would won both at the trials. No doubt. She is better than you think.