Fairest thing may be to just let Athing Mu run a solo time trial and see if she beats any of them. I’m sorry, this isn’t about your Olympic story. It’s about gold medals. Not taking Mu will cost the US a gold medal through no fault of her own.
Rerunning the race when the rule only allows for that if the fall occured in the first 100m isn't fair. Regardless, I have to make a point here. Mu has long gotten tangled up in these races due to her stride. It happened in some races in 2021, happened at USAs in 2022 or 2023, happened in Budapest and almost completely took her out, and this time it ended up taking her out. If Bobby was worth his salt he would've recognised the pattern and worked on some tactics in her race plan to minimise risk and also put her in some races to get sharp instead of opening at the trials (this part is moot if she was injured). Can't really call it a freak accident when she's tempted fate here for years.
It was always obvious she has poor spacial ability. She can't accurately gauge how much space is needed to accommodate her stride length, and/or lacks sufficient focus to be more careful. Coach has been way overprotective. She rose to the top quickly but in track you tend to take the elevator down and not the stairs. Reality is going to sink now that she's not nearly as relevant as she had imagined. Either she can confront that or find excuses.
Yeah, and this is why Sydney should have run both the 400 and 400H. Even if she decides not to run the 400 in Paris it's better to have a backup plan - just in case.
I hope the rules don't allow her to be in the 4x400 pool if she doesn't compete in the 400 in the trials.
1. Learn to race and be attentive to the space around you. If you can't then be a time trialing rail hugger.
2. This is why racing with some frequency helps. The more experience you have the faster you learn to race better.
3. No special rules for people who can't race well or get unlucky. It's tough luck and try again in 4 years. I don't want a stumbling and jittery headcase on the Olympic team if she couldn't finish top 3 in the US trials.
2. Y’all act like she hasn’t been racing and winning all her life. Gold medalists. World champion lmfao.
That is nonsense. Maybe if Mu had been tripped, one could argue that case, but when the incident was HER fault (not intentionally of course), you can't go giving her second chances because she failed her first chance.
Athing moved in when she didn’t have clearance. I hate runners like this and I’m immensely glad to see the way the upvotes and downvotes are going in this thread.
800 is a brutal race tactically but she hasn’t learned anything at all because she’s been so much fitter than everyone else. If she’s ever a bit less fit due to injury, or as she ages, she’s gonna repeatedly underperform and/or have the highest rates of collisions we’ve ever seen.
She really should have run the 400 since you get your own lane…
1. Learn to race and be attentive to the space around you. If you can't then be a time trialing rail hugger.
2. This is why racing with some frequency helps. The more experience you have the faster you learn to race better.
3. No special rules for people who can't race well or get unlucky. It's tough luck and try again in 4 years. I don't want a stumbling and jittery headcase on the Olympic team if she couldn't finish top 3 in the US trials.
2. Y’all act like she hasn’t been racing and winning all her life. Gold medalists. World champion lmfao.
That was 2 years ago bruh. And now no hardware in 2024. She's simply not as relevant.
It was an accident. Over. Three best gals got on the team.
The three best other gals besides Mu (Rogers, Grace, Sage) got taken out/messed up by Mu's fall. So yes, the three best got on the team after the original best all had their race jacked up.
It was an accident. Over. Three best gals got on the team.
The three best other gals besides Mu (Rogers, Grace, Sage) got taken out/messed up by Mu's fall. So yes, the three best got on the team after the original best all had their race jacked up.
Nia Akins is the fastest American woman over 800m this season. Wilson and Whittaker are 3rd and 5th fastest respectively. All have better SBs than Rogers, Grace, and Sage.
It’s awful for Mu and the others impacted, but the 800 is a physical race — stuff like this happens all the time. Heck, we saw something similar in the 2016 trials when BMart got taken out by Montano (albeit she ended up coming back to qualify in the 15). Suggesting a rerun is ludicrous and an insult to the fantastic athletes who qualified today.
She’s used to having the fitness and confidence to front run. However, her lack of race practice and use of different tactics was her undoing. She caused that fall herself by trying to cut in when there was no space to do so. Those are the cold hard facts.
I feel bad for her. She is a great champion, and I’m sure she’ll learn a hard lesson from this. I expect she will take this loss with the same style and grace she displays when she wins.