_2022.jpg) Mu competing at the2022 World Athletics Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (2002-06-08)June 8, 2002 (age 23) Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Weight | 124 lb (56 kg) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  United States |
| Sport | Track and field |
Event(s) | 800 meters,400 meters |
| College team | Texas A&M Aggies |
| Club | Nike Trenton Track Club (youth) |
| Coached by | Bobby Kersee (2023–) Milton Mallard (2021–2022) Al Jennings (youth) Bernice Mitchell (youth) |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbests | |
| Updated on July 24, 2022 | |
Athing Mu-Nikolayev[1] (/əˈθɪŋmoʊ/;[2]néeMu; born June 8, 2002)[3] is an Americanmiddle-distance runner. She is the youngest woman to hold Olympic and world titles in an individual track and field event. At the age of 19, Mu won the gold medal in the800 meters at the2020 Tokyo Olympics, breaking a national record set byAjeé Wilson in 2017, and acontinental under-20 record. She took a second gold as part of the women's4 × 400 m relay. She was the 800 m2022 World champion, becoming the first American woman to win the world championship title over the distance.[4]
Mu holds theworld under-20 record in the women's indoor 800 m, which she set in early 2021. She also holds theworld U20 best in the indoor600 meters, set in 2019 when she was 16 years of age with the third fastest time run indoors.
Athing Mu was born and raised inTrenton, New Jersey, and is the second youngest of seven siblings.[5] Her parents immigrated to the United States fromSouth Sudan,[6] and her family is ofDinka descent.[7][8] 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 fromTrenton Central High School in 2020.[5]
On February 24, 2019, Mu broke the American women's record at the 600 meter event at the2019 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 byAlysia Montaño, and nearly broke the women's world record of 1:23.44, held byOlga Kotlyarova.[9]
On February 6, Mu ran indoor 50.52 s in the women's 400 meters, which was 0.3 seconds faster thanSanya Richards' officialworld under-20 record ratified byWorld Athletics.[10] However, Mu's time was slower than the 50.36 s set by fellow AmericanSydney McLaughlin, which was not able to meet the standards for world record ratification.[11] On February 27, she ran 1:58.40 in the 800 meters to set an indoor collegiate and world under-20 record.[12][13] 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.[14] At the 2021 NCAA Championships inEugene, Oregon on June 12, 2021, she lowered her collegiate all-time record mark to 49.57 s in winning the 400 m, before anchoring the Texas A&M Women's4 × 400 m relay squad to victory and a new collegiate record of 3:22.34 later in the day.[15][16]
Mu qualified for the delayed2020 Tokyo Olympics at theUS 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.[17] At the Tokyo Games, she won two gold medals for thewomen's 800 meters andwomen's 4 × 400 meters relay. In her individual event, Mu led from gun to tape in a dominant showing, finishing clear ahead ofKeely Hodgkinson and compatriotRaevyn Rogers. She broke the American women's 800 meter record with a 1:55.21s performance and ended a 53-year Olympic win drought for the USA – the last American woman who won the event wasMadeline Manning at the1968 Mexico Olympics (first Olympic 800 m male or female win sinceDave Wottle at theMunich 1972). Mu became also the youngest U.S. woman to win individual Olympic track and field title sinceWyomia Tyus earned the 100 m title at the1964 Tokyo Games.[18]
In her first post-Olympic race at thePrefontaine Classic, she improved upon her American 800 m record, setting a time of 1:55.04s despite running by herself over the final lap, also the all-comers' record, making her the second fastest U20 woman ever afterPamela Jelimo and putting her eighth on the world all-time list.[19][20]
In that record-breaking season Mu competed 36 times (including rounds) and triumphed in 35 races to be votedWorld AthleticsFemale Rising Star of the Year.[21][22]
At theWorld Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July, Mu this time barely held off Hodgkinson to take thewomen's 800 m gold with a world-leading time of1:56.30. She won by 0.08 s after a tight finish on the home stretch, withMary Moraa 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.[4]
At the2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Mu competed in the 1500 m and placed second.[23] As the winner of the previous year's iteration, she automatically qualified for the year's world championships in the 800 m. Although whether she would compete was in doubt, at theWorld Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Mu competed in the 800 m and placed third to Mary Moraa and Keely Hodgkinson. She had only run one 800 m race all season prior to this. At September's2023 Prefontaine Classic, she won the Diamond League final in a time of 1:54.97 to set an American record and defeat Moraa and Hodgkinson.[24]
After a nine-month hiatus, Mu returned to competition at the2024 United States Olympic trials. During the 800 meters final, she tripped and fell, and finished in last place. As a result she would not compete to defend her Olympic gold from three years prior.[25] She raced the 800m again at the Holloway Pro Classic inGainesville, Florida one month later and placed 5th in 2:00.29.[26]
At the2025 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Mu was eliminated in the semifinal round of the 800 meters, finishing fourth in her heat with a season's best of 1:59.79.[27]
Mu got engaged in September 2024. She was married in March 2025, and she later changed her name to Athing Mu-Nikolayev.[28][29]
All information taken fromWorld Athletics profile.
| Event | Time | Venue | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 meters | 49.57 | Eugene, OR, United States | June 12, 2021 | AU20R |
| 4 × 400 m relay split | 48.32 | Tokyo, Japan | August 7, 2021 | fourth leg[30] |
| 400 meters indoor | 50.52i | College Station, TX, United States | February 6, 2021 | |
| 600 meters indoor | 1:23.57 i | New York, NY, United States | February 24, 2019 | AU18BWU20BAB |
| 800 meters | 1:54.97 | Eugene, OR, United States | September 17, 2023 | NR |
| 800 metersNCAA | 1:57.73 | Waco, TX, United States | April 17, 2021 | CR |
| 800 meters indoor | 1:58.40 i | Fayetteville, AR, United States | February 27, 2021 | CRWU20R |
| 1500 meters | 4:03.44 | Eugene, OR, United States | July 8, 2023 | |
| One mile indoor | 4:37.99 i | College Station, TX, United States | January 15, 2022 |
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Youth Olympic Games | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 2nd | 800 m | 2:05.23 | |
| 2019 | Pan American U20 Championships | San José, Costa Rica | 1st | 800 m | 2:05.50 | |
| Pan American Games | Lima, Peru | 11th (sf) | 800 m | 2:07.30 | ||
| The Match Europe v USA | Minsk, Belarus | 8th | 400 m | 54.34 | ||
| 7th | 800 m | 2:06.68 | ||||
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 1st | 800 m | 1:55.21 | AU20RNR |
| 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:16.85 | WLSB | |||
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 1st | 800 m | 1:56.30 | WL |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 3rd | 800 m | 1:56.61 | SB |
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