Sport: Track & Field
Born: June 8, 2002
Town: Trenton, New Jersey
Athing Mu was born June 8, 2002 in Trenton, NJ. Her mom and dad had emigrated to the US from South Sudan. Athing was the second of seven children. Her older brother, Malual, was a lightning-fast runner as a boy and grew up to star for Penn State. Athing followed in his footsteps at the age of 6 and joined the Trenton Track Club as a little girl. There she met the man that would coach her into adulthood, Al Jennings. Under his tutelage she became a force in the AAU ranks—so much so that when she enrolled at Trenton Central High School she did not join the Tornadoes track team. Nevertheless, she joined the long list of athletes and celebrities who attended Trenton Central, including football Hall of Famer Elvin Bethea, basketball legends Tal Brody and Mike Bloom, baseball stars George Case, Al Downing and Bo Belinsky, NYC mayor David Dinkins, comic genius Ernie Kovacs, playwright Ntozake Shange and hip-hop artist Jay-Z.
Athing excelled at the middle distances and eventually became a specialist in the 400 and 800 meters. She came into her own in 2018 the season she turned, when she competed in the AAU Junior Olympic Nationals, finishing first at 400, 800 and 1,500 meters. At the Youth Olympic Games in Brazil, she won silver in the 800 meters and also won the 400 and 800 at both the US Indoor and Outdoor Nationals. At the Indoor meet, Arthing ran a 1:23.57 in the 600 meters to set a new American record, and came less than a half-second from cracking the world record.
In 2019, Athing ran the 800 at the Pan American Under-20 Games and won the gold medal. The following spring, she graduated from high school and attended Texas A&M on a track scholarship. With the 2020 Olympics delayed a year, Athing was able to mature into a legitimate gold-medal favorite. Early in 2021, she set an indoor record in the 400 meters and an intercollegiate mark in the 800. At the NCAA Championships in June, Athing lowered her time in the 400 to establish another collegiate record, and also anchored Texas A&M’s 4×100 relay squad, which set an NCAA record in the finals with a time of 3:22.34. She made the Olympic team by winning the 800 meters at the Olympic Trials later in the month.
Athing arrived in Tokyo poised to win Olympic gold at her two favorite distances. She won the 800 meters, becoming the first American to do so since 1968. Athing also ran the anchor leg in the 4×400, teaming with Sidney McLaughlin, Allyson Felix and Dalilah Muhammad to finish far ahead of Poland and Jamaica for the gold. Taking the baton from Muhammad, Athing completed her 400 meters in a personal-best time. All told, she won 35 of the 36 races she ran in 2021.
More good results awaited in 2022. Athing won the 800 at the World Championships. At the age of 20, she became the youngest woman ever to hold the Olympic and World titles in a track event. Earlier in the year, Athing turned in a personal-best time of 4:37.99 in the indoor mile.
Athing’s spot on the 2024 Olympic team seemed all but assured until the finals of the 800 US qualifiers. Twenty-seven seconds into the race she stumbled when the runner behind her clipped her heel. She left the track in tears and her protest was denied by USA Track & Field.