Athing Mu just DROPPED OUT of the women's mile and showed her true greatness. I love her even more!!!!

I pretty much agree. I don't mean to bash Mu - she's a great athlete - but just merely trying something "out of her comfort zone", then doing badly at it and not even finishing, is no reason to celebrate her. Anybody can do the "trying" part - it's how they perform that matters.

This "Rojo" guy criticizes all those supposedly boring athletes who run a normal, well-paced race and "kick for a PR at the end", or whatever nonsense he spewed. Like running a tactically sound race and PR-ing (aka "running really well") is the worst possible outcome. Sorry if that is insufficiently entertaining to you, "Rojo".

Wasn't he some kind of coach at one time? How often do you think he suggested to his runners that they get out there, run faster than they can maintain, and then just DNF if it felt too uncomfortable? And then praise them afterwards? What a kook!

Quick, let's get Gault assigned to a project, Top 10 DNFs of All Time.

let's stop wrote:

Quick, let's get Gault assigned to a project, Top 10 DNFs of All Time.

Um, ever heard of Jordan Hasay? She's top ten in DNFs, DFLs and getting lapped.

let's stop wrote:

Quick, let's get Gault assigned to a project, Top 10 DNFs of All Time.

The Halls have a least 5 of them.

I’m a coach and try to give my athletes just such a task from time to time—sometimes in workouts but other times in time trials or races—especially the ones that are inherently too cautious and never test their limits.

Sometimes it results in breakthroughs; other times it’s a death shuffle finish or DNF.

But they always learn something that they wouldn’t if they constantly play it safe. Talk about it together afterwards and help them take something positive from it moving forward.

Races have lots of potential purposes, and each race is just one among many; not that big a deal when kept in perspective.

And every time you race an unfamiliar distance and aim to run at the outer limits of your ability will put you in danger of crashing against those limits. But no shame in laying it out there and going for it. Get up and move on and try again having learned something in the process.

Do you all take the same approach to cutting a bad workout short as you do to race DNFs?

Is it a badge of dishonor or a character flaw to ever not finish out every last rep you planned on paper to do in a workout?

If not—and for the love of God. I hope not—then why make races out to be some sacred experience that demands completion every last time?

Passant wrote:

Here is a video of the race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6Xu8Zcific

clearly Athing wasn't able to follow the pace at 3:17, so she abandoned.

Mile/1500m are the opening dors of long distances. This is the reason that runners that comes from high are better than those that come short.

Asbel Kiprop was junior Cross Country World Champion.

Athing can progress in the mile be she need to dedicate a lot of time training to it.

Kipyegon is also a 2 time world junior cross country champion and finished 6th in the senior race.

Ingebritsen and Hassan are also good to excellent in longer distances and also shine at 1500m. Simpson was a 3000m steeplechaser before 1500m. Dibaba, Wang junxia, El guerrouj, Morceli all excelled at 1500m plus longer distances.

runningfan87 wrote:

Wtf is this post Rojo? Celebrating someone dropping out of a race? I love Mu and think shes gonna be the 800 goat when its all done, but praising her for dropping out is so incredibly weird.

+1 this post disgusts me

Jimmy Alberione B. wrote:

Passant wrote:

Here is a video of the race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6Xu8Zcific

clearly Athing wasn't able to follow the pace at 3:17, so she abandoned.

Mile/1500m are the opening dors of long distances. This is the reason that runners that comes from high are better than those that come short.

Asbel Kiprop was junior Cross Country World Champion.

Athing can progress in the mile be she need to dedicate a lot of time training to it.

Kipyegon is also a 2 time world junior cross country champion and finished 6th in the senior race.

Ingebritsen and Hassan are also good to excellent in longer distances and also shine at 1500m. Simpson was a 3000m steeplechaser before 1500m. Dibaba, Wang junxia, El guerrouj, Morceli all excelled at 1500m plus longer distances.

Ingebritsen’s range is incredible. A 3:28 guy who can dominate XC 10Ks. And you suspect with his aerobic base that a sub-60 half-marathon could be possible. But, yeah, definitely a guy moving up rather than down.

And your other examples are good as well. As would pretty much any example of people moving up to or down from the marathon. I’ll take Mu over D’Amato in a head-to-head mile race.

As to the prior post, Mu didn’t abandon at 1209 today. She hit 1409m at 3:50 and stopped there. Wish she would have at least run 91 meters more, as even stumbling along could have gotten her to a sub-4:10; and with the official 1500m split being recorded at the meet, I think it would have counted for PB purposes.

"Run in the back and then kick big to PB" You'd rather her drop out then do that? Why? This post is weird dude

lolzz wrote:

Lol. This had to be a parody of your brother’s recent post about D’Amato’s marathon record.

This it. Rojo proving to be the tool and fool that he is.

No respect.

whaaaaaaa wrote:

"Run in the back and then kick big to PB" You'd rather her drop out then do that? Why? This post is weird dude

Isn't that how that popular Youtuber, Nick Symmonds used to race?

What some posters seem to be missing is that, as far as I can tell, nobody is really dissing Athing Mu in general. Amazing runner. If she never runs a good race again, what she did at the Olympics last year will still be legendary.

The issue is PRAISING her for dropping out. I can understand dropping out. There are times when it's the appropriate move, sure. Cut your losses, etc. But realistically, it's never a move that ENHANCES the legend of a runner. That's the only thing most people seem to be in disagreement with Rojo's original post about: that dropping out actually makes her MORE of a legend, MORE likeable.

It goes something like this:

- Awesome high school career. Everybody likes this.

- Sets all kinds of college records and wins titles as a freshman. Everybody appreciates this.

- Wins the US Trials in dominant fashion. Everyone likes.

- Wins the Olympics. A huge feather in her cap.

- Sets AR (a couple of times I think). More feathers in her cap.

- Reset to 2022. Wins a relatively low-key mile in 4:37.99. Very good. Everyone likes.

- Soon after, decides to contest this distance at Millrose against big names. Ballsy! Exciting! Everyone likes.

- At Millrose, she DNF's with 200 to go. Disappointment!

At this point, most people will probably be like, okay, maybe she's not a miler then. She gave it a go, and props to her for that, but her performance was a bit of a disappointment. Lesson learned. No foul.

But only Rojo seems to find a DNF to be something that further enhances her legend, and deserves additional praise. What a boss - to DNF rather than finish!

TMADDDHASFNE wrote:

Ran a 10K jobby hogger race in hot an humid conditions, but decided to do only one 5K lap because of the heat. I consider this a DNF and never felt good about it.

You started a 10k and did not finish. Pretty straight forward DNF. Not much to consider

Very spot on chap, KB dropping out in Paris at what the 41km mark a few years back showed true guts and determination.

Was she moved from 800 to give Ajee a win?

To the tiny and irrelevant spectator world of track and field, it looked lame at the very least to bail on the race with 100-200m to go. An attempt to avoid a public spanking after a week of hype and predictions of grandeur. A premier athlete had an embarrassing day venturing outside of her strong suits. It was DK METCALF-ish, but a little worse. The geeks on this thread can rationalize the crash as they wish. But this was a failed mission, and totally forgettable

boot2327 wrote:

To the tiny and irrelevant spectator world of track and field, it looked lame at the very least to bail on the race with 100-200m to go. An attempt to avoid a public spanking after a week of hype and predictions of grandeur. A premier athlete had an embarrassing day venturing outside of her strong suits. It was DK METCALF-ish, but a little worse. The geeks on this thread can rationalize the crash as they wish. But this was a failed mission, and totally forgettable

Likewise, my immediate reaction the moment I heard "DNF" was : That is lame as hell. She doesn't want a 4:3X in a high-profile mile on her record, eh? Pathetic.

But after mulling it over last night , I'm inclined to give her a pass on this one, for a few reasons. Firstly, she's 19. Who can't recall doing stupid $hit at that age? Hanging with the lead group was figurative suicide, not bravery, considering she was ill-prepared to do so. Surely her coach knew this. We all know that if you're running clean, there's no such thing as magic on race day. Do the appropriate training and plenty of it and the results will come. No short cuts. Maybe she honestly believed she could get it done without a bunch of mileage, that it would hurt, but it wouldn't hurt that much, and that she could run like she usually does for just a little bit longer, no biggie. Youth. Callow youth.

Secondly, who knows what she was feeling at 1200. She was slowing, maybe even starting to tie up, just as everyone else was accelerating. The real possibility of a last-place finish might have been a(n existential?) shock that a more mature athlete would have endured, but instead prompted her to bail. Physiologically, she may have sensed herself entering the danger zone, her form rapidly breaking down, and having to shuffle through the last 50m, spaghetti-legged, in 7 min/mi pace. Let's imagine she did crawl home busted. I can live without seeing that and for Mu, the same lessons are learned whether she DNFs or not. Whatever the case, labeling her a "quitter" after an initial stutter step as a teenage, newly-professional runner is well out of order. On Mu's part, if she decides to tackle the 1500 in earnest, maybe she'll chat with Reekie about mixed 800/1500 training--and consult with another coach.

She's not a kid. She's an Olympic champion. Finishing a mile isn't like finishing a marathon. She quit because she was going to be badly beaten. A very poor look.