Athing Mu (born June 8, 2002) is an American

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

. She is the youngest woman in history to own Olympic and world titles in an individual track and field event. At the age of 19, Mu won the gold medal in the

800 meters The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

, breaking a national record set by Ajeé Wilson in 2017, and a continental under-20 record. She took a second gold as part of the women's 4 × 400 m relay. She is the 800 m 2022 World champion, becoming the first American woman to win the world championship title over the distance. Mu holds world under-20 record in the women's indoor 800 m, which she set in early 2021. She also holds the world U20 best in the indoor 600 meters, set in 2019 when she was 16 years of age. Her time is the second fastest ever run indoors and the second fastest run by an American woman in any condition.

Early life

Athing Mu was born and raised in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784. Her parents immigrated to the United States from

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

, and her family is of South Sudanese heritage. She began competing in track at the age of 6. Mu did not join her high school track team, choosing to compete instead for Trenton Track Club. She graduated from

Trenton Central High School Trenton Central High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Trenton, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Trenton Public Schools. As ...

in 2020.

Career

On February 24, 2019, Mu broke the American women's record at the 600 meter event at the 2019 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 1:23.57. She bested the previous American women's record of 1:23.59 held by

Alysia Montaño Alysia Montaño ( née Johnson) (born 23 April 1986) is an American middle distance runner. She is a six-time USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships 800 metres champion (2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015). She gained significant publici ...

, and nearly broke the women's world record of 1:23.44, held by Olga Kotlyarova.

2021

On February 6, Mu ran indoor 50.52 s in the women's 400 meters, which was 0.3 seconds faster than

Sanya Richards Sanya Richards-Ross (née Richards; born February 26, 1985) is a retired Jamaican-American track and field athlete, who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being th ...

' official world under-20 record ratified by

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

. However, Mu's time was slower than the 50.36 s set by fellow American Sydney McLaughlin, which was not able to meet the standards for world record ratification. On February 27, she ran 1:58.40 in the 800 meters to set an indoor collegiate and world under-20 record. She bested the previous collegiate record by more than two seconds. On April 17 in Waco, Texas, running outdoors, Mu set the 800 meter USA collegiate record with a time of 1:57.73. At the 2021 NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon on June 12, 2021, she lowered her collegiate all-time record mark to 49.57 s in winning the 400m, before anchoring the Texas A&M Women's relay squad to victory and a new collegiate record of 3:22.34 later in the day. Mu qualified for the delayed

at the US Olympic trials held in Eugene, Oregon by placing first in the event with a time of 1:56.07, a world-leading time and the second-fastest result in American history. At the Tokyo Games, she won two gold medals for the women's 800 meters and women's 4 x 400 meters relay. In her individual event, Mu led from gun to tape in a dominant showing, finishing clear ahead of

Keely Hodgkinson Keely Nicole Hodgkinson (born 3 March 2002) is an English athlete specialising in the 800 metres. At the age of 19, she won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, breaking the British record set by Kelly Holmes in 1995. She is the 2022 W ...

and compatriot Raevyn Rogers. She broke the American women's 800 meter record with a 1m 55.21s performance and ended a 53-year Olympic win drought for the USA – the last American woman who won the event was Madeline Manning at the 1968 Mexico Olympics (first Olympic 800m male or female win since

Dave Wottle David James Wottle (born August 7, 1950) is an American retired middle-distance track athlete. He was the gold medalist in the 800 meter run at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich and a world record holder in the 800 meters. In 1973, Wottle also ...

at the Munich 1972). Mu became also the youngest U.S. woman to win individual Olympic track and field title since Wyomia Tyus earned the 100 m title at the 1964 Tokyo Games. In her first post-Olympic race at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University ...

, she set even better American 800 m record of one minute 55.04 seconds despite running by herself over the final lap, also the all-comers' record, making her the second fastest U20 woman ever after

Pamela Jelimo Pamela Jelimo (born 5 December 1989) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, specialising in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal in 800 metres at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the age of 18. She is the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gold ...

and putting her eighth on the world all-time list. In that record-breaking season Mu competed 36 times (including rounds) and triumphed in 35 races to be voted

Female Rising Star of the Year. Athing Mu Oregon 2022

2022

At the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Eugene, Oregon in July, Mu this time barely held off Hodgkinson to take the women's 800 m gold with a world-leading time of 1:56.30. She won by 0.08 s after a tight finish on the home stretch, with

Mary Moraa Mary Moraa (born 15 June 2000) is a Kenyan athlete who specialises in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, a bronze medal in the event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and a gold at the 202 ...

trailing in third. Thus, Mu became the first American woman to win the 800 m world championship title, and the youngest woman in history to own Olympic and world titles in an individual track and field event. She also extended her outdoor win streak to nearly three years as she hadn’t lost an outdoor race (in any round, at any distance) since September 2019.

Achievements

All information taken from

profile.

Personal bests

International competitions

Circuit wins

* Diamond League **

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

(800 m): Eugene Prefontaine Classic (1:55.04 ) **

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

(800 m): Rome Golden Gala (1:57.01 )

National championships

References

External links

* * * * * * * (Track & Field Results Reporting System) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mu, Athing 2002 births Living people American people of South Sudanese descent American sportspeople of African descent Sportspeople of South Sudanese descent African-American female track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Sportspeople from Trenton, New Jersey Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Texas A&M Aggies women's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from New Jersey Trenton Central High School alumni United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women