Athing Mu Runs 1:54.97 To Overtake Keely Hodgkinson In Women's 800 Meters Diamond League Final; Grant Fisher Takes Third Behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen In 3,000, Running 7:25.47

By David Woods for DyeStat

Tim Healy photo

EUGENE, Ore. – Athing Mu did not, by her own evaluation, feel like Athing Mu. Or at least not the version she sought to be.

Didn’t feel like it most of this track and field season, and certainly not in last month’s World Athletics Championships at Budapest. What to do about it?

Reflect, recharge, redo.

We weren’t sure we would see Mu at Worlds, and certainly not at the Prefontaine Classic. After a bronze medal in the 800 meters, she said vacation was next.

Or not, as it turns out. Next was a Diamond League finals victory and American record.

In a Hayward Field rematch of 21-year-olds, Mu overtook Keely Hodgkinson, 1:54.97 to 1:55.19, on Sunday. It was an American record for Mu and British record for Hodgkinson, who finished in that order at the 2022 World Championships.

Mu’s race was evenly split, with 400s of 57.2 and 57.7. Hodgkinson had a slight lead through 700 meters, but Mu had slightly more at the end.

Mu broke her American and Pre Classic record of 1:55.04, set in August 2021.

“Of course, we’re going to have great competition, but I think it goes deep down to me and what I’m doing and what effort I put out there,” she said. “So, I just wanted to make sure I just did my best to compete with the best, and put as much effort as they were putting out there so I could get the results that I wanted.”

Without divulging many specifics – other than relocating to Los Angeles and changing coaches to Bob Kersee – Mu elaborated on a malaise affecting training, racing, and, most importantly, outlook.

She pulled out of several meets, and Kersee spoke publicly about pulling her out of the World Championships. Mu qualified for Worlds in the 1,500 meters but focused on the 800, in which she had a bye as defending World champion. In Budapest, she finished third behind World champion Mary Moraa of Kenya and Hodgkinson.

“Just being here the whole entire time, it felt SO different from Budapest,” Mu said. “It was just really happy with that. Just happy with the fact that I could come out and could actually be happy and enjoy what I’m doing. Not really thinking about expectations or anything, just running to the best of my ability, as I should have been doing this whole year.”

Her time was fastest in the world since a 1:54.77 by South Africa’s Caster Semenya in September 2018. Semenya has subsequently challenged World Athletics’ testosterone rules and been required to race at longer distances.

If Semenya’s times were excluded, no one has run as fast as Mu since a 1:54.01 by Kenya’s Pamela Jelimo in August 2008.

Mu was a national wild card – this was her first Diamond League of the year – so does not earn the trophy, which goes to Hodgkinson.

Natoye Goule-Toppin was third in a Jamaican record of 1:55.96, followed by Moraa in 1:57.42.

Mu’s was the second American record set Sunday, following Grant Fisher in the 3,000.

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen finished off a magnificent two-day double, outleaning Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha at the line by one-hundredth – 7:23.63 to 7:23.64. 

Fisher was third in 7:25.47, lowering his own American record of 7:28.48 from August 2022. Ethiopia’s Talahun Haile Bekele was fourth in 7:25.48.

Top four are now in the all-time outdoor top 10. Guatemala’s Luis Grijalva, fourth in the 5,000 at the past two World Championships, finished seventh in a national record of 7:29.43.

Kejelcha, through an interpreter, said a late change to make the Diamond League final a 3,000 instead of a 5,000 put him at a disadvantage. 

A day after running the No. 3 mile ever, 3:43.73, Ingebrigtsen ran the No. 3 all-time 3,000. Only Daniel Komen (7:20.67) and Hicham El Guerrouj (7:23.09) have been faster. 

New shoe technology has led to fast times at all distances, but Ingebrigtsen nonetheless capped an historic season that included world records at 2,000 meters and 2 miles, plus European records at 1,500, mile and 3,000, and world gold at 5,000. The one blemish was in losing the 1,500 to Britain’s Josh Kerr in Budapest.

Next: Ingebrigtsen’s wedding and 23rd birthday Tuesday.

“I’m just focusing on myself and trying to run as fast as I can, and if it was a goal to break the records in any events, I would probably do things differently,” he said. “But I think I’m definitely going to improve in the future if I continue doing what it takes in my training and obviously believing in my work and in myself.”

In July’s nationals at Hayward Field, Fisher was shut out of Team USA. The 26-year old was fourth in the 10,000 and withdrew from the 5,000. He had developed a stress fracture in his femur and said he preserved fitness with cross-training.

“I expected just to get a few races in at the end and try to feel like myself again, but it turned out way better than I expected it,” Fisher said. “I wouldn’t say it was a blessing in disguise because I really wish I was better at USAs and could make it to worlds, but I’m pretty happy with how I rolled with the punches and the team around me helped me get back on my feet.”

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007