What?! Bobby Kersee says Athing Mu may do 800/1500 double at next year's Olympics

Jarmila Kratochvílova was a 400/800 athlete.

I think Kersee's comments about the world record are interesting. Mu is fast enough at 400 to run under 1:53, but she doesn't currently have the over-distance ability to get there. She'll have to be able to run under 4:00 to have a shot at it, and she won't get there without doing 1500-specific training.

Kersee seems like a pretty huge narcissist and there's no evidence he's a good middle distance coach, but I hope there's a plan here.

I'm too would like to know if Kersee has any experience coaching a 1500 runner?

Way more likely Athing Mu doesn't make US team at 1500 than she wins the Olympic 1500m gold.

I've seen no evidence that Athing Mu should be world class at 1500, and why should I think a sprint coach can get her there? But I guess I never through Hassan would be so good at 800 through the marathon so prove me wrong.

If I'm being honest, that's the thought that first popped into my head right away as well. "My God, is he in over his head?"

It just doesn't seem fathomable to me that the former NCAA 400 record holder would be world -class in the mile. Of course, I'm not sure before Sifan Hassan came along that a 1:56 female 800 runner could win the London Marathon. THe beauty of everything is we'll find out soon if Mu has a shot as it says she'll run the 1500 at USAs.

Now when he said later she needs the strength to break the 1:53 WR, it made me feel a little bit better .

A few other comments on the article

1) It says Mu "caught COVID a week or so ago." If Mu has a bad year, I imagine that's the excuse we'll get. Never recovered instead of coaching.

2) There's lots of talk in the articles about them beating the 400 and 800 WRs. When talking about Sydney, Kersee says she has the speed of Flo-Jo. I wish someone had asked him about PEDs. Something like, "I know they never tested positive but those 3 athletes are all widely believed to have been doped. What do you say to fans who have a tough time imagininging a clean woman breaking dirty records?"

PS. Since I just subscribed it said I could gift an article. I wonder if I can gift it to lots of people. Here it is:

ocregister.com

LA Grand Prix loses star power as Olympic champions McLaughlin-Levrone, Mu drop out

gqlshare

Their coach Bob Kersee said setbacks that will keep them out of next week’s Los Angeles Grand Prix will not prevent them from challenging two of track’s oldest world records.

Link:www.ocregister.com/2023/05/18/mclaughl...

The first thought that popped into your head should have been "Bobby Kersee is making things up again."

Smh we want to see Athing in the 400 racing against other elites fck the 1500

Huge difference here, while Hassan is busy training, Mu is busy “modeling” and posing on IG

“I don’t have her where I need, where I want her to be at this time to perform at the level that she needs to,” Kersee said.

It's all about him. It's May and she has a bye to World's. What level does anyone NEED to be at right now?

I believe she is,” Kersee said. “I don’t really want to give away the
secrets of what I think she [SML] can do, but overall in terms of 400 meters
runner, I think the speed requirement and the strength requirement is
needed.

^^^ This was a good laugh

“I think the goal is she needs to be under 3:59 or better to really get
the benefit out of the 1,500 and with her speed ability to get the
ultimate transfer to the 800 in order to break that other 30-year-old
(plus) record at 800 meters,”Kersee said.

I don't doubt Mu could run under 3:59 if she trained specifically for the 1500m, but it's more about being in 3:59 and 49 shape while doing 800m training if she's even coming close to 1:52.

For context, the year Semenya got bronze in the 1500m (2017), her SB were 51.53 (month before worlds), 1:55.16 (at world's after 1500m). In 2018 she ran lifetime best of 49.62, 1:54.25, and 3:59.9.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but NEWSFLASH - Caster Semenya is MALE. Totally different thing.

Kratochvilova - never ran a 1500

Olizarenko - 3.59. The only other female to run 1.53. Maybe this is where Kersee plucked his numbers from.

Mu will be lucky to break 4:05 for the 1500. There's not a hope she can mix it with Kipyegon, Muir, Tsegay, and Hassan. It's great she's running the 1500, it can help her with her 800, but Kersee is seriously misguided if he thinks she's a medal prospect. It also seems a waste of her natural talent to target the 800/1500 double when she has a very good shot at the 400/800. It just seems like a desperate attempt to keep Mu and SML from racing each other

If Mu has COVID again and we all know the impact it has on the respiratory system. She's going to be even more fatigued. Hope I'm wrong but I see her struggling to compete in the future. The endurance will be a problem.

Bro this is the reigning olympic & world champion. She’s hard core. Relax.

I actually cheering against Mu and Sydney. Sydney dropped out of LA. I wish there was a way for her to lose at Nationals.

I'm sorry but it's just not good for the sport for the top stars to not compete.

No evidence? Really? I guess she has never run an 800 before. She is the best 800 runner in the world. You can say that other things point toward her not being world class in the 1500 but she has the top piece of evidence covered.

With Kersee's attitude and Mu's distraction by modelling, I can see Mu being done with running rather sooner than later.

There is zero chance for Mu to make it in 1500m, especially not under Kersee and not while "training together with Syd".

Go watch her pump out 8 x 400 in 63.