2023 NYC GP: Athing Mu Returns With Big Win, Zharnel Hughes Breaks British 100m Record
By Jonathan GaultAthing Mu flourished in her return to racing after a long layoff while Zharnel Hughes ran a stunning British record and world-leading time of 9.83 in the men’s 100 on a muggy day at Icahn Stadium for the 2023 USATF NYC Grand Prix. Mu, racing for the first time since July 2022, went wire-to-wire in the women’s 800, using a dominant final 200 to win in 1:58.73. Hughes’ time took .04 off the British record of Linford Christie, which had stood for close to 30 years.
In other action, Bryce Hoppel got back on track with a season’s best win in the 800 (1:44.55), Noah Lyles won comfortably in the 200 (19.83), and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ran a pb of 49.51 to win the 400.
Full results can be found here. Below, our six biggest takeaways from Saturday’s action.
We’ll have video interviews from New York up shortly.
You can discuss the meet on the world-famous LetsRun.com messageboard here: MB Official 2023 USATF NYC Grand Prix discussion thread
Women’s 800: Athing Mu dominated and there may be more in the tank
Athing Mu waited 11 months to make her return to track & field after her last race at the 2022 World Championship final. Or more accurately, 11 months and 600 meters. After a lap-and-a-half of today’s women’s 800, the Athing Mu that has dominated the world over the last two years had yet to appear, hitting 400 in 59.57. On the back straight, where she would routinely break fields during her rise to the top in 2021, Mu failed to gain any separation, and though she led at 600, the split was pedestrian (1:30.09) and the field was lining up to chase her down.
Mu was not challenged in the home straight
And then, suddenly, there was the Mu of old, ripping the final 200 meters in 28.64 to win by 2+ seconds in 1:58.73. (And doing it by running extra distance on the outside of lane 1 – a habit the long-limbed Mu developed to avoid contact with other runners, though none were close to her on this day).
Mu was helped by the fact that her chief rival Ajee’ Wilson – #2 in the world this year at 1:58.16 – totally fell apart over the final 250m, going from 3rd to dead last in 2:07.97 (Wilson wasn’t sure what went wrong, chalking it up to a bad race). Still, there was a huge gulf in quality between Mu and everyone else.
A fast time did not appear to be a priority for Mu in this one – she got to the front early but refrained from following the pacer closely – but 1:58.73 is a solid opener. She was running faster at this point in the season in the last two years, but Worlds is later in 2023 than the Olympics/Worlds were in 2021 and 2022. Plus, Mu clearly had more in the tank as she ran this one in a negative split of 59.57-59.16 with a terrific final 200.
Though Mu has not raced in almost a year, she has still been busy off the track, including switching coaches and agencies and moving across the country to LA.
“It’s been a lot,” Mu said. “Mentally it’s like everything’s happening, I can’t really comprehend all of it. Just same as what’s been happening with me the last three years, gaining all the accolades I’ve gained.”
2023 is the third of five consecutive years with a global championship, and Mu said that after busy starts to her 2021 and 2022 seasons, she has enjoyed time away from racing to start 2023.
“Not racing until May, it’s felt great,” Mu said. “I obviously wasn’t on vacation. I was still working in practice.”
As for her current shape, Mu says training under new coach Bobby Kersee has been going great and she is optimistic about her future.
“I’m not really worried about USAs, I’m not worried about Worlds,” Mu said. “I think we’re on a great pace and I know Bobby knows exactly what he’s doing.”
Mu said she does not know whether she will run at USAs next month but added she will definitely be in Eugene watching her teammates. In the past, reigning world champions such as Mu have had to run at least one round at USAs to earn the bye to Worlds, but last year USATF bucked that trend by sending Dalilah Muhammad in the 400 hurdles even though she did not compete at USAs. It’s unclear whether Mu would also be able to skip USAs — Muhammad said she had an injury, and it is clear Mu is fit and healthy — but Mu may end up running USAs anyway.
As for which event, she said that was up to Kersee to decide. Currently Mu only has a qualifying mark in the 800 but if she enters the 1500 there’s a good chance USATF will let her in without a mark.
“If Bobby wants me to just to get some races under my belt even more, then I will,” Mu said. “My teammates are all going so I will be there too so I may as well get on the track but I don’t have a specific answer for you.”
Men’s 100: Zharnel Hughes pulls a stunner, smashes Linford Christie’s British record
There was no competition for the most shocking performance of the day: Zharnel Hughes, who ran a stunning 9.83 to win the men’s 100 and break Linford Christie’s 9.87 British record, which he ran to win gold in the 1993 World Championship final. Hughes was only 3rd halfway through the race but his second 50m was ridiculous and carried him into the record books.
Hughes, who was born and raised in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, may have been the only person in the stadium who was not surprised.
“You probably won’t believe me,” Hughes told Lewis Johnson on NBC after the race, “but I wrote this down in my book this morning: I’m going to run 9.83 or 9.89, 9.91 at the slowest.”
9.83‼️ That’s a national record for @zharnel_hughes‼️ #ContinentalTourGold pic.twitter.com/kqRcSYTbwx
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) June 24, 2023
Hughes has been on the pro scene since 2015, when he ran 20.02 as a 20-year-old in 2015 to finish 5th in the World Championship 200m final, and he was already tied for #2 in British history thanks to his 9.91 from 2018 (he won the European championship at that distance later that year). He was also an Olympic 100m finalist in 2021 but was DQ’d for a false start, a persistent problem throughout his career.
But there was little to suggest this sort of breakthrough at age 27. Last year, Hughes had a season’s best of 9.97; he finished just 3rd at the UK championships and failed to make the final at Worlds. This year, in six 100m races before today, he had a best time of 10.00 seconds (plus a hand-timed 9.9), but that is a little misleading as his 10.00 came into a 0.9 m/s headwind. That converts to 9.94 seconds in still conditions; meanwhile today’s 9.83 featured a 1.3 tailwind, which converts to 9.89 in still conditions.
Hughes was in shock after he saw his time
Hughes’ time was also a 2023 world leader and lands him squarely in contention for the podium in Budapest, where he will look to become the first Brit to medal in the men’s 100 since Darren Campbell 20 years ago.
Hughes also believes he can run faster this year. Despite running the fastest 100m time of the year, Hughes told Lewis Johnson the following with a straight face:
“Anything is possible. The great thing is, we haven’t started speed work yet. This is just raw speed endurance.”
It was fitting that Hughes’ breakout run came in New York as Icahn Stadium has been a special place for him and his coach Glen Mills through the years. Back in 2015, a 19-year-old Hughes made his Diamond League debut in New York, finishing 2nd in 20.32 into a massive headwind, just .03 behind Usain Bolt. Bolt, of course, was also coached by Mills, and has his own special connection to Icahn Stadium as it is where he ran his first 100m world record of 9.72 in 2008.
Men’s 800: Bryce Hoppel wins, Hobbs Kessler PRs, and Will Sumner only manages 5th
Bryce Hoppel admitted before the race that he has not had the smoothest start to his 2023 outdoor campaign, and today was his first race in nearly a month after a disastrous 1:48 at the LA Grand Prix on May 27. But in New York, Hoppel flashed the form that has carried him to three straight US titles (two indoor, one outdoor), controlling the race from the front and winning comfortably in a season’s best of 1:44.55 and making him the third American under 1:45 this year – already surpassing last year’s total of two.
Isaiah Harris, the US indoor runner-up behind Hoppel in February, was 2nd, also in a season’s best of 1:45.11, while 20-year-old Hobbs Kessler closed well in the home straight to shave more than a second off his pb and run 1:45.80 for 3rd – an encouraging run ahead of what looks set to be a terrific battle with Yared Nuguse, Cooper Teare, and Cole Hocker for a spot on Team USA in the 1500. Kessler’s coach Ron Warhurst was pleased with the result (though he noted Kessler made some rookie mistakes in his first 800 of the year) and said he believes Kessler could run 1:44 if he trained specifically for the 800. That’s not the goal this year, though — right after the race, Kessler and Warhurst headed to Central Park to run a 5 x mile workout.
Kessler was also pleased with his result but felt he could have run faster if he had been a little more aggressive.
“I wish I had been a little more confident during the race and really raced like I deserved to win,” Kessler said.
The other American mid-d phenom in the race did not fare quite so well as Will Sumner, the 19-year-old NCAA champ for Georgia, ran in the middle of the pack throughout the race and wound up 5th in 1:46.79.
Women’s 400: Sydney McLaughlin goes out more conservatively, runs a pb
Two weeks ago in Paris, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, running her first 400 in more than two years, came through 200 in a blistering 22.66 seconds but was run down late as the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino won in 49.12 to SML’s 49.71.
Today in New York, McLaughlin-Levrone took the opposite approach, hitting 200 more than a second slower (23.74) but closing much better to win in a personal best of 49.51, well ahead of runner-up Gabby Thomas (50.29), who was doubling back from the 100 earlier in the meet.
Afterwards, McLaughlin-Levrone confirmed that she will race the 400 at next month’s US championships and make a decision on her event at Worlds later this summer (she already has a bye in the 400 hurdles as defending world champ).
Through two races, SML has shown herself to be among the best in the world in her new event. She ranks #4 in the world for 2023, and one of the women ahead of her, Britton Wilson (49.13) may focus on the 400 hurdles at USAs/Worlds instead. Should she run the 400, she is certainly a contender for gold, particularly because, under coach Bobby Kersee, McLaughlin-Levrone has produced her best performances in championship finals. But right now she still faces stiff competition in world leader Paulino (48.98), NCAA champ Rhasidat Adeleke of Ireland (49.20), and 2019 world champ Salwa Eid Naser, who has run 49.78 this year after returning from her ban for whereabouts failures.
Men’s 200: Noah Lyles takes care of business
Two-time defending world champ Noah Lyles was the heavy favorite in a field that lost some luster with the withdrawal of 100m world champ Fred Kerley, and he wound up winning comfortably in 19.83 – his 23rd win in his last 24 200m finals. Lyles said afterward he was pleased with his first 100 but was not smooth coming off the turn, something he will work to clean up in practice.
Lyles also gained a measure of revenge as he was well ahead of runner-up Issam Asinga (20.25), the high school star who beat Lyles in the 100 earlier this season (and who bumped Lyles down to #3 on the all-time high school 200 list after running 19.97 in April).
Lyles now has 34 career sub-20 times in the 200 meters, tied for most all-time with Usain Bolt.
Men’s 1500: Eric Holt emerges as dark horse contender
By Alex Geula
After a fourth-place finish at USAs last year, Eric Holt is determined to best last year’s finish and break into the top three at USAs and will head to USAs in good form after winning the 1500 here in 3:37.07, more than a second ahead of runner-up Craig Engels (3:38.15). An improvement on last year’s finish would earn Holt a spot on Team USA that will be heading to Budapest in August. While Holt’s 3:35.80 pb is well short of the Worlds standard (3:34.20), his world ranking would be high enough to get him to Worlds.
