US sprint icon tips Athing Mu for greatness after painful Paris 2024 Olympics miss

Reigning Olympic 800m champion Athing Mu.

US sprint icon tips Athing Mu for greatness after painful Paris 2024 Olympics miss

Joel Omotto 09:50 - 05.07.2024

American athletics great Michael Johnson feels Athing Mu will rise from her disappointing outing at the US Olympics trials and win even more titles in future.

American athletics legend Michael Johnson believes Athing Mu is still destined for greatness despite missing the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Mu will not defend her 800m Olympics title after she failed to secure her ticket to Games following an unfortunate fall during the trials.

The 22-year-old tripped and fell in the final stretch of the race and failed to finish in the top three with her appeal dismissed.

Mu will now be among other Olympics champions such as Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir (800m), Jamaica’s Elaine Thomspon-Herah (100m and 200m) and Julimar Rojas of Venezuela (triple jump) who will not be defending their titles either through injury or failure to qualify.

Johnson, however, feels there are more titles yet to come from Mu while the others have already made their mark on the sport.

“Interesting! Athing will definitely win more titles. Elaine and Shaunae will go down as legends even if they did nothing else,” Johnson posted on X in relation to a post that highlighted the Olympics champions who are not going to Paris.

The list had included Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo, the Olympics 400m champion, who suffered an injury at the trials, but has been offered a lifeline via the World Athletics rankings.

Mu had endured a difficult time before the trials as injuries hampered her preparations with the event being her first of the season after pulling out of others before.

She was on course to making the team before the unfortunate event but with only the top three across the line securing an Olympics ticket, her fate was sealed.

At 22, the 2022 world champion and 2023 bronze medallist, still has time to right those wrongs, starting with next year’s World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

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