fisky wrote:
I don't see the DNF as a big deal. We don't know why she stepped off. It's possible she had a nagging injury and the extra distance was too much for it. I've DNFd a race when I thought that finishing might result in an injury.
It's easy to say she quit, but we don't know what her and her coach's goals were for the race. It might have been "hang with the leaders as long as possible, but if you can't hang, don't worry about it." As a 800m runner myself, 1409 meters is a LONG way past 800 meters. Mu is a very rare talent, being a 400/800 runner. She could potentially win gold in the 400 and 800 in the next Olympics. I don't think that has ever been done by a woman. The mile can wait until 2028 or 2032.
In short, it was a learning experience to race against some of the best milers in the world. It lets her know where she stands as a 19-year-old miler. I commend her for stepping up to test herself at the longer distance and I don't have a problem with the DNF.
Not finishing a race like this is what you might expect of a schoolgirl who has badly misjudged the distance. It's lamentable for an Olympic champion and showed she would rather bail than lose badly. So she elected to look like a poor loser.