Olympic gold medalist Athing Mu will not get a chance to defend her 800m title in the 2024 Paris Olympics after falling in the middle of her race during the U.S. Olympic trials Monday. Her team submitted an appeal, but it was denied.
Mu’s absence will be a significant one. She won gold in the women’s 800m event at the 2020 Tokyo Games and claimed the world championship in 2022.
“I’ve coached it, I’ve preached it, I’ve watched it,” Mu’s coach, Bobby Kersee, told The Associated Press. “And here’s another indication that regardless of how good we are, we can leave some better athletes home than other countries have. It’s part of our American way.”
The incident happened while Mu found herself in the middle of the pack and got tangled up with other competitors. She got up and continued running, but she was too far behind to save her race.
Sage Hurta-Klecker was one of the main runners affected as she had to jump out of the track to avoid Mu. She finished fifth with a time of 2:00.38 and did not qualify for the 800m in Paris.
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