Athing Mu creates sensation ~ wins Women 800m in style at Tokyo

Not a very happy day – day 11 for India at Tokyo Olympics as the men's hockey team suffered heartbreak in the semi-final and field athletes failed to match their personal bests and bowed out of the competition. India's much-anticipated wrestling campaign at the Olympics also got off to a poor start.  Manpreet Singh's men kept the match hanging in balance as it was tied 2-2 at the 3rd quarter. But a flurry of unfortunate events saw them lose the initiative as World No. 2 Belgium, considered one of the toughest sides to face in world hockey at the moment, scored thrice in 15 minutes to crush India's hopes.  India will face Germany in the bronze medal match on Thursday. Powerhouses Australia hammered Germany 3-1 in the 2nd semi-final on Tuesday.

As it occurs, this Olympics too,   we've seen countless young athletes solidify their spots as the next generation of Olympic greats. Competitors like 13-year-old skateboarded Sky Brown, 25-year-old swimmer Simone Manuel, and,  the entire U.S. women's gymnastics team. Today came another champion in  800-meter U.S. track runner Athing Mu (pronounced “uh-thing-moe”)  -  19-year-old New Jersey native has been running track since she was six and took the field by storm, winning Gold.

In Feb  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.  The 800 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the first edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 800 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The women's event was first held in 1928, making it the first distance running event for women. However it was not held again until 1960, since when it has been a permanent fixture. It is the most prestigious 800 m race at elite level. The competition format typically has three rounds: a qualifying round, semi-final stage, and a final between eight runners.

Athing Mu, who was on a song reportedly had been a big follower of  Madeline Manning Mims !   Her Family moved from South Sudan to USA to get a better life due to war and she lifted her country to win Gold in the 800Metres Olympic Finals.   Mu grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Trenton Central High School in 2020.  Nike signed her and is her sponsor this Olympics.  Mu is part of a big family: She's the second youngest of seven children. Her parents emigrated from Sudan before she was born. Mu was born one year after they arrived and was the first of her siblings to be born in America. Her older brother, Malual, runs track at Penn State University.

Today on the track, she ran a cool race to win - USA's Athing Mu  won the women's 800m final in incredible fashion, finishing in a national record of 1:55.21. The 19-year-old was in a class of her own, streaking away from the field to set the fastest time of the year. Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson, herself 19, ran brilliantly to win silver in a British national record of 1:55.88, with Raevyn Rogers of the USA finishing third (1:56.81) after an immense final 50 metres saw her run through the field to win bronze.

Mu entered the competition as a favourite after streaking to victory in the US Olympic track and field trials. At just 16 years old, the athlete broke the American indoor 600m record in a time just 0.13 seconds off of the world record. Since then she has broken record after record from 400 all the way through to 800m. Now she has won the ultimate prize in the pressure pot of the Olympic Stadium - an Olympic gold medal.

Great Britain's Hodgkinson, who won silver, is herself a record-breaker, having become the world's fastest female 800m runner under 20 when she clocked 1:59.03 in January in Vienna. Just seven months later she has broken the 1:56 mark - in an Olympic final no less - to set a new British record and take second spot on the podium.

The person referred earlier - Madeline Manning Mims is a former American runner. Between 1967 and 1981 she won ten national titles and set a number of American records. She participated in the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Summer Olympics. She y also would have participated in the 1980 Games in Moscow, had they not been boycotted by the United States. At the 1968 Olympics she won a gold medal in the 800 m, the only American woman to win this event. Until 2008, she was the youngest winner of the event. At the 1972 Games in Munich she won a silver medal in the 4×400 m relay with teammates Mable Fergerson, Kathy Hammond, and Cheryl Toussaint.   

.. .. and in Women 200m - Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah became the first woman in history to retain the sprint double after adding 200m gold to the 100m title she won on Saturday. Thompson-Herah, who also doubled up in Rio 2016, won the 200m final with ease in 21.53sec, ahead of Namibia’s Christine Mboma in the silver medal position. The United States’ Gabby Thomas pipped Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica to bronze.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
3^rd Aug 2021.