Sydney McLaughlin-Lev & Athing Mu: Real reason they're skipping Worlds

Lol yeah, I’m sure the plan is to skip world champs in their athletic peak windows to focus on training.

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Take drugs out of the equation. They both can still be tested without competing at Worlds by random testing. They already completed in meet(s) plus the USA Championships in which they most likely were tested.

It makes no sense once you realise competing is not an obstacle to performance. These two ladies just wasted an entire year in the prime of their careers not competing. It's not something to be celebrated, it's tragic.

....That's what I thought then I had to think why would two athlete of their caliber and ambitions skip Worlds. And my initial post was my conclusion.

Bad coaching advice. Lack of motivation. Lack of appreciation. Doping. Stupidity.

But to think there's an actual performance benefit to not competing one year out from the target competition is nonsense.

they ended their season right after world last year and skipped the indoor and outdoor season this year to focus on Worlds and now they are skipping on Worlds to focus on the Olympics. What’s next? What exudes will they come up with next for not racing? Skipping on the Olympics to focus on breaking the WR? How are people still a fan of these “athletes”? They never race! Are you just a fan of their illusion? A fan of their potential? I’ve honestly lost interest in following both of them. I hope they retire soon because they’re doing more damage than good to the sport and it’s fan base.

I just get the feeling neither individual really enjoys the pro circuit or the sport.. they have an immense amount of talent and as a result, got thrust into the spotlight.. but neither one really enjoys the pro track or running scene.

IMO… let them leave. Everyone just needs to now stop talking about them. I hope neither one of their names get mentioned on TV during the broadcast… they aren’t competing, so let’s forget about them and start supporting and rooting the athletes that do actually show up and represent.

1) One of them wants to build a church.
2) The other one wants to be worshipped (on the catwalk).

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Not all but a lot of you posters are the biggest hypocrites. In my other post Athing losing American fan base. The majority of the posts were: they have right to do as they please and they not losing many fans.

Now I find a possible albeit not popular reason why they skipping Worlds and again some posters take the opposite viewpoint. It makes ABSOLUTELY no sense one week your a fan and the next week your against the two.

They have a right to do as they please, although I don't agree or like their decision as a fan of the sport. Now how much would our opinions matter if both double and win both events or win one and medal in the other (both with at least one WR) event at the Olympics?

Mu is not skipping Worlds.

Totally agree, skipping a race does not mean they cannot be tested

It would become painfully obvious that they’d just spent the past two years doping as much as possible.

Maybe skip the 2024 Olympics to get ready for the 2028 Olympics in their own Country USA. LOL

Think about it a double at the Olympics will be worth way more financially than a single at this year Worlds

SYDNEY

has increased her open 400m considerably and had little time to train on 400H

Given more time to improve her 400m speed and also train for her improved speed and transition it to the 400H

ATHING

she has improved her 1500m significantly which her coach said will help her attack the 800m WR

her endurance still not were he wants it to be sub 3:58 (I think they shooting for sub 3:55) which may put her in position to threaten the 800m WR

I TRULY feel they have decided the Olympics offer way more avenues for greater payout with a double and possible WR.

As for the 1500m Faith will MOST LIKELY be running the 5000/10000m at the next Olympics.

Sorry, Mu really is in start list

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Thank you Sir but that still doesn't change the fact that they are putting more importance on their double at the Olympics than a single at this Worlds. Athing workouts must show her endurance is sub 4 minutes right now and she in shape to STRONGLY FAVORABLE challenge for the win in the 800m.

If not she would skip Worlds as well. In no certain order WRs, win streaks, and Olympics are their focus and that's their right!

On paper what you say is plausible, unfortunately, in real life athletics it is not. The one thing you never want to do is "save it up for a bigger competition". Too many variables come into play, injuries, sickness, etc.. which all can rear their ugly heads between now and next season. SM may have a legitimate injury issue (I don't think so) and Mu hasn't shut the door on world champs. Both are fit and ready to run, why take that for granted? If you've spent the better part of a year (and years prior) training and racing yourself into a world beater, why would you press the pause button? BK is either a master tactician with a lot of faith in his two prized pupils and his 12 month Olympic plan, or he is in the middle of a potential sh^t show with one athlete not mentally locked in, and the other athlete who is a bit unstable herself and potentially hurt. One suggestion BK may want to push is having Mu compete so as to save the "Brand" of his group and avoid the backlash from die hard track fans and potentially the USATF. Does BK at his age want to be accused of hurting the sport by not letting two of the greatest runners on the planet compete?

Definitely a slippery slope.

I can just imagine Sydney doubling and part of that double is breaking 47.60 in her 6th consecutive day of running either 400 hurdles or 400 flat.

Sure, no problem. What could possibly go wrong? No accumulation there at all.

You guys swallowed the Kersee hype when she's not fast enough to run that time period. Even when Sydney collapsed and lost to Paulino she was still behind Koch's pace midway.

The Mu plan makes a heck of a lot of sense, building her stamina to take a legitimate crack at the 800 record. But Kersee fooled himself into believing that Sydney's 50.68 was even remotely equivalent to 47.60. He undoubtedly nitpicked one small aspect of that race after another and concluded she could have gone a few tenths faster. Therefore run the perfect race, subtract 3 seconds, and presto there's the 400 flat world record.

Meanwhile these days the loss isn't anything close to 3 seconds. The new shoes and aggressive stride pattern benefit the elite 400 hurdlers a heck of a lot more than they help at 400 flat. No woman has ever broken 52 at 400 hurdles without using 14 steps for at least 2 hurdles. Bol's best using 15 steps is 52.03. Dalilah Muhammad's best is 52.16. Sydney was never lower than 52.23 until she switched to 14.

Muhammad using 14 steps is seldom mentioned. She used it in Tokyo over hurdles 2 and 3 only. That's part of the reason she was able to put a meter or two on Sydney and Bol. I've always believed Muhammad would have won that race if she had emphasized 14 to greater extent and been able to carry it through hurdle 5 instead of hurdle 3.

Muhammad continued to use that stride pattern in 2022. This year she's gone back to her prior method of 15 through 8, then 16 on 9 and 10.

Sydney wasted 2023 because Kersee convinced her she could take out the 400 flat world record on sabbatical before returning to 400 hurdles next year for Paris. Once Kersee came to grips that 47.60 wasn't happening he pulled the plug on this year.

Next season Sydney will go back to hurdles for Paris. And she will defeat Bol, despite months of hype the other way.