Keely Hodgkinson has received a huge boost to her Olympic gold medal hopes after Athing Mu, the reigning 800m champion, crashed out of the Paris games following a dramatic fall in the US trials.
Mu had beaten Hodgkinson to gold at both the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and then the World Championship in Eugene the following year but will not defend her 800m title this summer after tripping in the final of the American Olympic trials.
Unlike in British Athletics, where Hodgkinson can race over 400m rather than her preferred 800m at the Olympic trials this weekend, the strict US selection rules dictate that only the first three finishers in the trials will go to Paris provided that they have met the Olympic qualifying standard.
Hodgkinson did beat Mu in last year’s World Championship final when she took what was her third consecutive silver in a global major championship, this time behind Kenya’s Mary Moraa.
Mu, however, is the only current-day 800m runner to have ever run faster than Hodgkinson, who is unbeaten so far this season. Hodgkinson’s wins have included comprehensively beating Moraa before following that up with winning the European Championships in Rome despite suffering from illness on the day of the race.
Mu’s fall came after about 200m of the final of the US 800m trials, just after the athletes were cutting in following the first bend and bunching up as they tried to get themselves in an optimum position. The 22-year-old Mu did still get up to finish the race, but was never able to get back near the leaders of a fast race that was won by Nia Akins in 1min 57.36sec ahead of Allie Wilson and Juliette Whittaker.
It is an outcome that will again raise questions of the high-stakes approach that USA Track and Field takes in its Olympic selection policy.
In Great Britain, only the first two athletes who cross the finish line at the trial national championships this weekend will be guaranteed their place in Paris as long as they have met the Olympic qualifying standard. The third and final pick is discretionary, meaning that Hodgkinson will run over 400m and Josh Kerr will compete in the 800m rather than his preferred 1500m. Zharnel Hughes, who won world bronze last year at 100m, will also miss the trials as he tries to return from recent injury ahead of the Olympics.
“I’ve coached it, I’ve preached it, I’ve watched it,” Mu’s coach, Bobby Kersee said. “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.”
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