"I realized I cannot do it on my own... Christ is the only one guiding this ship" - Athing Mu opens up about learnings from heartbreaking 2024 season

Athing Mu has shared her learnings from the 2024 season, which is arguably the toughest of her short and glorified career. The American suffered a hamstring injury a few weeks before the Olympic Trials and although she did make it to the trials, the 22-year-old failed to qualify for the Olympics.

Mu rose to prominence at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning the 800m gold medal as a 19-year-old. She followed it up with another blazing run at the 2022 World Championships, becoming the youngest person in history to hold the World and Olympic titles in an individual track and field event.

The American was impressive in the 2023 season as well, winning a bronze medal at the World Championships before breaking the American record to win the Diamond League Finals. However, the 2024 season turned out to be most challenging for Mu, who battled a hamstring injury before a heartbreaking fall had her miss out on the Olympic team.

Mu fell on the first lap of the 800m final in the U.S. Olympic Trials, and despite her incredible effort, she only managed to finish last. The 22-year-old wasn't named to the Olympic team and only competed once afterward before ending her season. Weighing in on the tough season on a podcast with Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo, Mu revealed it was the first time in her career that she solely relied on Christ.

"This past year was more than just about me and running track and field. I think the main thing it was about was just me and growing in Christ even more and truly trusting him because I've never been at a point in my career where I was like solely just relying on Christ and being like hey like I need your help get me to the next point," Athing Mu said. [36:35 onwards]

The world champion added that it helped her realize she couldn't succeed without Christ on her side.

"It's been really tough but I realized that I absolutely cannot do it on my own and yeah Christ is the only one who's going to be guiding the ship," she added. [37:22]

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"I wasn’t really happy to be there" - Athing Mu opens up on failing to defend her 800m title at the 2023 World Championships

World Athletics Championships. Budapest 2023. - Athing Mu in action (Source: Getty)

Athing Mu was deemed the runaway favorite for the 800m title at the 2023 World Championships after having absolutely dominated the international stage in the previous couple of seasons. However, she wasn't mentally ready for the race.

Speaking in an interview with the Guardian, Mu claimed she wasn't happy to be at the World Championships and treated it just like any other meet.

"I wasn’t really happy to be there. The season leading up to it – not in terms of training, but mentally – I just wasn’t really there. I just wasn’t present. I didn’t appreciate being there. I didn’t really enjoy what was happening to me,"' Athing Mu said.

The mental toll on the 22-year-old eventually resulted in her losing her unbeaten run to Mary Moraa, who ran her down in the home stretch to win the gold medal in a personal best time of 1:56.03s. Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson won silver in 1:56.34s while Mu settled for the bronze medal in 1:56.61s.