Athing Mu-Nikolayev looks much better - Runs 2:00.42 for 6th at Ed Murphey Classic, Akins 2:00.76 for 8th.

Did you hear Bill Spaulding say, after Mu's run, "Now she has three weeks to go back to the lab with Bobby Kersee."

Aggressive first lap. She was out in 3rd in 57.33/. Ran a 31 - 31 on the way home (i had last 200 in 31.8).

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She's far from what she used to be but her making the team is certainly a possibility.

Full results with splits here:

https://live.timinginc.com/meets/53763/events/individual/2095666

Definitely an improvement from Pre. She's lacking fitness right now. I get the sense that she took a long layoff after last year and had a late start to training this year. Can she build enough fitness between now and the US championships to make the team? She only has 19 days.

This! Kersee’s chemists will begin supplying her with the necssary ‘nutrients’ to provide her with the ability to create the most amazing (and fake) comeback ever!

Good grief give me a break it was 2:00.4/m2 much better my rear end. Leave Kersee already go to Millard

"Aggressive" and "57.33 first lap" shouldn't ever have to describe Athing Mu. She should be able to go out in 57 like it's no big deal.

Clearly she hasn't been willing to put in the work in practice. Last year she missed a lot of practice and she still ran a 1:58. What the heck is she doing in practice this year? Obviously not much.

fixed it for you

Positives and negatives from that one for Athing Mu-Nikolayev.

I'll start with the negatives:
She's not in shape right now. When Maloney separated on the second lap, that is a move that prime Athing Mu would have closed with ease. She's just not fit enough to do so right now.

2:00.42 three weeks out from USAs is not good. Losing to Rachel Gearing, McKenna Keegan, Veronica Hargrave, and three weeks out from USAs is not good. She didn't have anything in the last 100.

The positives:
She wasn't afraid to go out near the front this time. Actually put herself in the race. She's still running extra distance on the turns but this was an improvement from Pre.

She beat Nia Akins and Michaela Rose. Mu-Nikolayev is a complete wildcard right now, but so are some of her biggest rivals at USAs.

She ran three seconds faster than at the Pre Classic. Could she improve by another 2-3 seconds by USAs? Absolutely. And that might be enough to put her on the team.

My other thought is that it's wild that a 23-year-old Olympic/World champion with a 1:54 pb is only running 2:00 right now. I know she had an injury last season, but from what she has said, she is healthy right now and has been training for a while. I don't expect her to run 1:54 every time out but if there haven't been any injuries this year, it's stunning that she is so far off her best.

Gearing has beaten Mu two straight races now (Gainsville last year).

She got beat by 4 Americans here. And this is probably only the 2nd fastest meet this weekend in the US.

She ran 2:03 a week ago. 2:00 is much better than 2:03.

You guys never gave credit to Brandon Miller. He was the one pacing her and challenging her in college.
She never been the same since the split.

Athing is not an easy athlete to coach despite what people think, she complains a lot in workouts and sometimes you need people that can help mentally and definitely not SML nor Kersee😉

I couldn’t give a hot wet monkeys @ss if it was 15 seconds better than last week, it’s still a 2:00 from a 1:54 runner that is supposedly healthy and been training great for months

You wouldn’t care if she ran 1:48?? I would!

Obviously you didn't watch the 800 at Pre. Athing Mu ran 2:03 at Pre because she ran a lot of the race in lane 2 and then jogged the last 50 meters. She did NOT improve 3 seconds in fitness from last week to this week. She barely improved her fitness at all.

And that explains why you will never be a champion. A champion is looking at progress. You cannot see it. You need vision to be a champion.

Work on your reading comprehension.

Correct.

Progress is only important when you consistent race your main event throughout the year. Stepping off the track in the middle of a whatever race is not helpful in measuring progress.