The defending 800m world champion might not defend her title in Budapest at the World Championships in a few weeks.
In an interview with the LA Times, legendary track and field coach Bobby Kersee broke the news that he and Athing Mu haven’t decided if the talented superstar will run in 800m at the World Championships in Budapest.
“It’s in our control if we decide we’re just going to go ahead and train through this year and focus on next year, then that’s what we’re going to do,” Kersee told the LA Times in a recent interview. “The training is going well but our thought process, openly, is that we’re going to just train here in L.A. for the next two weeks and the next time she gets on the plane it’ll either be on vacation or to Budapest.”
On Wednesday, it was announced that Mu would be withdrawing from the Ed Murphy Classic on Friday, where she was scheduled to run the 400m.
So far this season, Mu has raced in two meets: the New York Grand Prix, where she won the 800m with a season’s best time of 1:58.73. She also competed at the USATF Outdoor Championships, where she finished second in the women’s 1500m. She has an automatic bye to the World Championships in the women’s 800m for this year.