How are track stars feeling so much "pressure" from media and fans. There's like 1,000 of us at most...

Am guessing you've never raced in your life. I used to get nervous racing the fastest kid at the bus stop when I was 9, anxious before the middle school gym class mile, worked up before H.S. X-C meets, and now, in my 60s, still anxious before a local 10K road race.

No I definitely raced and felt pressure. But if I had a bad race it was more me being bad at myself and team. But no one at my school cared...my family didn't care. I could walk to the ice cream store and no one was like "wow you really blew it on that anchor leg by dropping the baton!"

I can't imagine a pro runner has it much different. Is it that hard to just ignore letsrun? Who care is they disappoint like 1000 in a bad race.

Why does it have to be pressure?

I used to love walking onto the track with a full crowd in the stands. I loved it during an indoor track meet it got so loud during a race that the sound vibrations were shaking my stride. I loved getting out of bed in the morning to go train because I knew my opponents were probably out there doing the same thing.

I just don't understand the psyche of some of these athletes. They're getting paid to do what I would gladly do for free. Enjoy the cool trips and enjoy the competition. It's not going to last forever.

Track and field very few in the U.S care...

Twisties😲

It's easier to deal with your personal failure when you can blame someone else.

Olympics & W.C., it seems like million or two ...

Sounds like she enjoyed it more before she became Olympic champion. After she won Olympic gold, the pressure increased. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Typical American exceptionalism. Like uswmnt feels she deserves the title. Please. And a modeling career- yeah god luck with that dear, tell me how you do when you roll up to some bar in Cali. Dudes are like “where’s the hotties.”

I think the "fans" in track and field exhibit an open hostility on individual performers you don't typically see in other domains. Unlike popular team sports like American football and association football (soccer) where there's a tribal mentality which feeds into how the leagues market the individual club brands and coinciding merchandise and ticket packages, track and field athletes are really just out there competing in their own interest. How many of you are going to parade around in a Cole Hocker or Clayton Murphy t-shirt in public, or at an actual track meet for that matter?

Nationalism does nothing for me due to my background, so I don't feel at all personally aggrieved if say, Spain or Germany or any other country really, beats the USA in any international domain, but perhaps that is what is happening with many track and field fans when athletes competing for their preferred county don't perform up to a certain level? However, given all the smack talk I see from people on here about people at all levels of the running pyramid... hobby joggers, high school athletes, college athletes, running vloggers, semi-professionals, and professionals, I think a lot of runners are bitter former also rans that maladaptively cope with their personal demons around running by diminishing the accomplishments of other and talking smack online.

There’s like 10 weirdos who start 90% of the threads here and use multiple usernames. Add a handful of high schoolers who would have been on dyestat (RIP), you have an inaccurate perception of the running community.

Try reading the twitter/X comments of premier league football, NFL football athletes after one bad game. There’s outright death threats there.

How many Dutch or Norweigan athletes had this attitude? You are focusing on two female American minorities. They have been told that they are victims their entire lives. So when they are put in a position to do great things, they struggle.

I think most of the pressure and expectations are self generated and from the athlete's immediate circle but you spend a lot of time with your own thoughts and are surrounded by coaches and those around you that it becomes your identity. The worldwide number of people doesn't matter, as an athlete it can become your world and that's more than enough pressure.

Lets all remember that its possible she just doesn't enjoy pro running. Before you all disparage her, remember that she almost didn't compete at worlds. No healthy athlete would pass up the World Championships - unless they simply don't enjoy pro running. She has the right to not want to run, and she the right to stop when she wants or take a break when she wants. Everyone writing angry posts at her is just salty they won't ever run with in 20 seconds of her time. Don't get mad at her for having other hobbies, don't be mad if she decides to stop running and be a model - and don't be if she wants to race less and walk runways more. It's her prerogative.

I do think that athletes only racing twice a season is bad for the sport, but its worse to have athletes unhappily, unenthusiastically competing. An athlete motivation / mental health crisis is worse for the sport than slightly less competition. And if she starts to regain motivation, it's likely that she will race more. Let her do her own thing.

I root for Mu, but she seems to forget that without fans she wouldn’t be getting paid 6 figured to not have a desk job and just work out and eat all day

It's a failed media show. No watchers at all. No interest.

no interest because NBC, USATF, and World Athletics don't market - people know when the premier league season starts because ads are everywhere - we need more ads.

Don't forget the napping!

Alot of were thinking it was Mu's fault, now the consensus seems to it's Keersey's.

Seeing her slump through the celebration tunnel at the beginning of the race and then seeing her posing for cameras with her bronze - she was happy to be done.

Get her a new coach and get her running in small races where only a few people come out to watch, and even fewer dig through the SoundRunning or Flowtrack feed to find the race.

Then she'll realize that there isn't much pressure actually.

...whereas Chopra has 6,000,000+ followers on social media - he manages to do ok.