With another Indoor season coming to a close and an outdoor season on the arrival, are we going to see Athing Mu run in 2026 at all? Any updates on a coaching situation or life in general situation? Is she still even sponsored is the real question...
With another Indoor season coming to a close and an outdoor season on the arrival, are we going to see Athing Mu run in 2026 at all? Any updates on a coaching situation or life in general situation? Is she still even sponsored is the real question...
It's a really good question.
At a guess, I wouldn't be surprised if I saw her race again in some capacity - I would be surprised if she was ever competitive again (so in todays climate that means she'd have to be running under 1.56 world level and under 1.57.5 on the US level).
I just don't think she was ever prepared to be a professional track and field athlete. College worked so well for her because it's not professional athletics and it's nothing to do with money. It's to do with time, structure, life focus, environment. I think her personality suited college - not the lonely and high pressure environment of being a pro middle distance runner and being coached by a notorious nutter in Kersee didn't help matters either.
She's now married, has publicly spoken about doing other things in life (modeling for one) - people move on and not only can't run forever, they don't want to run forever. As fans of the sport we sometimes forget this important reality.
Very fair analysis. I think as a whole we are wondering if anyone else has heard things in the past 6 months and this seemed like a good time to bring it up as people are making more comparisons to the World Champ Keely
Very fair analysis. I think as a whole we are wondering if anyone else has heard things in the past 6 months and this seemed like a good time to bring it up as people are making more comparisons to the World Champ Keely
To be honest it's kind of laughable that she's being spoken of in the same breath as KH at the moment - in the last 30 or so months Keely has won an Olympic title, a world outdoor bronze and a world indoor title and has run 4 times faster than Mu's lifetime best. In the same timespan Mu has run 8 races total and her best time was 1.58.84 and couldn't even make the US final last season.
The latest update came in December when we learned she's no longer being coached by Kersee and she moved with her husband to Dallas. Nobody here seems to know if she's still training, who's coaching her, and when or if she will race again.
With another Indoor season coming to a close and an outdoor season on the arrival, are we going to see Athing Mu run in 2026 at all? Any updates on a coaching situation or life in general situation? Is she still even sponsored is the real question...
It's a really good question.
At a guess, I wouldn't be surprised if I saw her race again in some capacity - I would be surprised if she was ever competitive again (so in todays climate that means she'd have to be running under 1.56 world level and under 1.57.5 on the US level).
I just don't think she was ever prepared to be a professional track and field athlete. College worked so well for her because it's not professional athletics and it's nothing to do with money. It's to do with time, structure, life focus, environment. I think her personality suited college - not the lonely and high pressure environment of being a pro middle distance runner and being coached by a notorious nutter in Kersee didn't help matters either.
She's now married, has publicly spoken about doing other things in life (modeling for one) - people move on and not only can't run forever, they don't want to run forever. As fans of the sport we sometimes forget this important reality.
I mean, she could go back to college and do postgraduate qualifications, such as a phd. She could easily recreate that environment again. She's still young enough to fit right in.
But she's not interested in running, except after the man in her life.
Modelling is the same with her running - if she was going to do it, she would be doing it right now. Nobody is interested in a mid twenties model with no experience and average looks.
Very fair analysis. I think as a whole we are wondering if anyone else has heard things in the past 6 months and this seemed like a good time to bring it up as people are making more comparisons to the World Champ Keely
In about 4-5 years, Hodkingson will be spoken about as a 800m legend. Mu won't.
Not because of ability, but because one is clearly motivated to compete and break records and the other isn't.
what are we talking about, "phd?" she did "a" year of college. we're probably talking a grind of 3+ years just to get a BA.
her situation is why i don't believe in encouraging kids to go pro early. you get sick of running as a sport. you get old. what then? and the sport is only paying out "f*ck you" money like NFL deals to a small group of people. and did you save it?
that and people don't seem to "count" that the working part of her career could have fit within a TAMU undergrad stint.
last, as i have talked about on other 800m threads, she kind of lucked into a lull transition period when the intersex athletes who had dominated were being legally punted, the old generation like rogers was ageing out, and keely and the newer ones hadn't come in. i could tell just from watching trials and olympics as a kid that TF success can be short lived. you think you are a bad @$$ who will dominate forever. then some 18 year old kid or college runner comes in. and this happens every cycle. and both worlds and olympics. this is not some sport like NFL where you have a contract and if it goes bad some other team picks you up, and you can play that out for years while losing quality. in TF there is one winner in the world. that's a tough flagpole to climb and a tough one to stay there.
last last, i think there is some value to gabby thomas-style sidelines. she has her epidemiology degree. she has had to work her way up the food chain. her life is not built around winning every race. she has other stuff. if this gets stressful she can do her other stuff for a bit and come back. i always liked having track AND soccer. no one owns me. if this one is rocky, maybe focus on the other. my whole life isn't caught up in this one thing. setting aside other pursuits, hobbies, etc.
what are we talking about, "phd?" she did "a" year of college. we're probably talking a grind of 3+ years just to get a BA.
her situation is why i don't believe in encouraging kids to go pro early. you get sick of running as a sport. you get old. what then? and the sport is only paying out "f*ck you" money like NFL deals to a small group of people. and did you save it?
that and people don't seem to "count" that the working part of her career could have fit within a TAMU undergrad stint.
I didn't realise she didn't get a degree. I'm in Europe, and we have athletes like Laura Muir and Eilish McColgan and many others who combined university degree with pro running. I'm assuming though that if Mu were motivated, she could go back to university/college and do an undergraduate degree, if she likes being in the study-running set up. If she wanted to. Which clearly she doesn't. It seems a strangely dull life for such a young woman, particularly after her parents must have strived so hard to give their children the opportunities in the US they had been themselves denied at the same age in their own country.
With another Indoor season coming to a close and an outdoor season on the arrival, are we going to see Athing Mu run in 2026 at all? Any updates on a coaching situation or life in general situation? Is she still even sponsored is the real question...
She’s never running another step again professionally. Get over it.
what are we talking about, "phd?" she did "a" year of college. we're probably talking a grind of 3+ years just to get a BA.
her situation is why i don't believe in encouraging kids to go pro early. you get sick of running as a sport. you get old. what then? and the sport is only paying out "f*ck you" money like NFL deals to a small group of people. and did you save it?
that and people don't seem to "count" that the working part of her career could have fit within a TAMU undergrad stint.
I didn't realise she didn't get a degree. I'm in Europe, and we have athletes like Laura Muir and Eilish McColgan and many others who combined university degree with pro running. I'm assuming though that if Mu were motivated, she could go back to university/college and do an undergraduate degree, if she likes being in the study-running set up. If she wanted to. Which clearly she doesn't. It seems a strangely dull life for such a young woman, particularly after her parents must have strived so hard to give their children the opportunities in the US they had been themselves denied at the same age in their own country.
She and Sydney McLL didn’t finish college bc the only textbook that matters is the Bible 😆🙄
I mean, she could go back to college and do postgraduate qualifications, such as a phd. She could easily recreate that environment again. She's still young enough to fit right in.
But she's not interested in running, except after the man in her life.
Modelling is the same with her running - if she was going to do it, she would be doing it right now. Nobody is interested in a mid twenties model with no experience and average looks.
If she is craving the structure that college provides, a PhD is not the move. It's 5-7 years where you essentially only have 2 deadlines (qualifying exam and dissertation defense). Whereas Athing has repeatedly shown that she puts in the hard work only close to the deadline. It wouldn't work out.
what are we talking about, "phd?" she did "a" year of college. we're probably talking a grind of 3+ years just to get a BA.
80% TLDR. Get to the point on your posts!
And what do you mean talking about Ph.D.? Where in this thread was anyone talking about her going for a doctorate when as you indicated she has done one year of college so far.
what are we talking about, "phd?" she did "a" year of college. we're probably talking a grind of 3+ years just to get a BA.
her situation is why i don't believe in encouraging kids to go pro early. you get sick of running as a sport. you get old. what then? and the sport is only paying out "f*ck you" money like NFL deals to a small group of people. and did you save it?
that and people don't seem to "count" that the working part of her career could have fit within a TAMU undergrad stint.
I didn't realise she didn't get a degree. I'm in Europe, and we have athletes like Laura Muir and Eilish McColgan and many others who combined university degree with pro running. I'm assuming though that if Mu were motivated, she could go back to university/college and do an undergraduate degree, if she likes being in the study-running set up. If she wanted to. Which clearly she doesn't. It seems a strangely dull life for such a young woman, particularly after her parents must have strived so hard to give their children the opportunities in the US they had been themselves denied at the same age in their own country.
buddy of mine was all-state in soccer, played it in college, and set some running records at our junior high. decided after 2 years of juco he hated organized sports. he is happily married to his HS sweetheart but has struggled to find his way on a career.
some people don't enjoy things they are good at, some people spend their lives searching for meaning. maybe her thing is motherhood, maybe she'll find something else.
if she'd stayed with it and turned out goat she'd still have had this crossroads in her 30s.
what are we talking about, "phd?" she did "a" year of college. we're probably talking a grind of 3+ years just to get a BA.
80% TLDR. Get to the point on your posts!
And what do you mean talking about Ph.D.? Where in this thread was anyone talking about her going for a doctorate when as you indicated she has done one year of college so far.
post #7. post #7. post #7.
and you undermine TLDR claims when you quote the pertinent substantive section of my post.
what are we talking about, "phd?" she did "a" year of college.
Athing Mu was a student at Texas A&M for 2 years, not 1 year. Her freshman year she ran as a student athlete. Her sophomore year she was still a student at Texas A&M, but as a professional runner she couldn't run for the college team.
So she only needs 2 more years to get a degree. And now that she apparently isn't running any more she will have plenty of time to finish her degree.
With another Indoor season coming to a close and an outdoor season on the arrival, are we going to see Athing Mu run in 2026 at all? Any updates on a coaching situation or life in general situation? Is she still even sponsored is the real question...
It's a really good question.
At a guess, I wouldn't be surprised if I saw her race again in some capacity - I would be surprised if she was ever competitive again (so in todays climate that means she'd have to be running under 1.56 world level and under 1.57.5 on the US level).
I just don't think she was ever prepared to be a professional track and field athlete. College worked so well for her because it's not professional athletics and it's nothing to do with money. It's to do with time, structure, life focus, environment. I think her personality suited college - not the lonely and high pressure environment of being a pro middle distance runner and being coached by a notorious nutter in Kersee didn't help matters either.
She's now married, has publicly spoken about doing other things in life (modeling for one) - people move on and not only can't run forever, they don't want to run forever. As fans of the sport we sometimes forget this important reality.
Your post is 99% spot on, the only exception is the "notorious nutter" comment about Kersee. There were a lot of people on this site, including you blaming Kersee for Mu's downfall, when actually it was entirely Mu's personal issues, not the coach. BK's resume speaks for itself.