In American track and field, the sprints tend to steal most of the attention.
It’s now time to give middle-distance its due, thanks to a teen running prodigy.
At the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on Tuesday night. Athing Mu, 19, became the first American woman since Madeline Manning in 1968 to win gold in the 800-m race. Her winning time, 1 minute, 55:21 seconds set a new national record. It bested Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain, who clocked a 1:55:88 to win the silver, and fellow Team USA’s Raevyn Rogers, who ran 1:56:81 for bronze.
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Mu has raised golden expectations for his race all year. Before she turned professional in June, signing with Nike, Mu was a freshman phenom at Texas A&M; keeping track of her collegiate records—800m, 400m, 600m indoors, likely missing a few—was no easy task. At the U.S. Olympic Trials, Mu ran the world’s fastest time of the year, 1:56:07, a mark she topped at the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.
“Regardless of whether people have expectations of me, I know at the end of the day it’s not affecting anyone but myself,” Mu told TIME in an interview before the Olympics. “Just knowing that brings me peace.”
Read more: Your Guide to the Fastest and Most Exciting Track Events at the Tokyo Olympics
Mu’s the pride of Trenton, N.J. and the daughter of South Sudanese immigrants—her last name is pronounced “Moe.” From the time she started running when she was in grade school, Mu stood out. “She never said no to any workout I gave her,” says Bernice Mitchell, one of Mu’s coaches at the Trenton Track Club. Most little kids want to sprint. “The funny thing is, she didn’t,” says Mitchell. “She didn’t like shorter races.”
For Mu, distance offered more payoff. “The shorter events like the 100m, I’m just like, I don’t want to do that,” says Mu. “Because I’m doing all this work just to run 10 seconds on the track, and that’s it. I didn’t think I could reach my full potential doing that.”
Going into Tokyo, Mu told TIME, she’d often think about herself on the medal stand. “I’m definitely visualizing it,” she says. “I think visualizing it is going to make it happen.”
How prophetic. And how will she react up there? She recalled crying during the victory ceremony after she won the U.S. 600-m national indoor title in 2019, a year in which Mu says she suffered from self-doubt. This time might be different. “Here in 2021, I know what I can do,” she says. “I know what I’m here for. So maybe I won’t shed a year.”
We’ll soon find out.
Read more about the Tokyo Olympics:
- Naomi Osaka: ‘It’s O.K. to Not Be O.K.’
- Motherhood Could Have Cost Olympian Allyson Felix. She Wouldn’t Let It
- Simone Biles’ Olympic Team Final Withdrawal Could Help Athletes Put Their Mental Health First
- ‘Unapologetic and Unafraid.’ Sue Bird Stares Down Olympic Glory in Tokyo and Equity Off the Court
- Meet 6 Heroes Who Helped Battle COVID-19 Before Competing in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics
- Here’s How Many Medals Every Country Has Won at the Tokyo Summer Olympics So Far
- 48 Athletes to Watch at the Tokyo Olympics
- The Olympic Refugee Team Was Created to Offer Hope. Some Athletes Are Running Away From It
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