my understanding is that Mu's hamstring was torn, but is no longer so it doesn't feel right so many people saying they wouldn't want her in the Olympics because she has a torn hamstring
to be sure, of course we have to follow the rules, but there are rare instances like this that USATF isn't accounting for in their rules, which is the extreme outlier
Extreme outliers like Mu and Sydney are capable of what seems like magic to the rest of us. Case in point, Mu ran 2:01 in the first heat, then 1:58 in the semis. This after no training for over a month due to injury. I believe the article said she did two 300s to make sure she could run pain free?
Folks, if true, that means her baseline fitness with no training in the 800 is a 2:01! The 1:58 she ran in the semis a few days later was not a maximal effort either, surely she could have at least been in the 1:57s if she went all out.
So at minimum 1:58 fitness after a few days of training including one race. The first heat of the Olympic 800 is in about 5 weeks. There is no reason to think she couldn't be in 1:54-1:55 shape by then. That's only a few seconds faster than what she already showed after a couple days of running.
I'm not here to argue rules or petition to change anything. It is what is is. But if the future existence of the USA depended on us winning the women's 800 gold, I guarantee you we'd be sending her to Paris.