EUGENE, Ore. — For the third straight time, a runner has fallen in the women's 800-meter final at the U.S. Olympic Trials, but this fall was the most shocking yet.
Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Ah Tin Mu stumbled about 200 meters into his final race on Monday night.
As she moved toward the inside of lane two in a crowded pack, Mu turned her head toward the infield, but lost her balance on her next step.
Her coach, Bobby Kersey, said Mu was hit from behind by another runner. According to the Associated Press.
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Within a second and a half, several runners weaved around the falling Moo and he collapsed face-up on the Hayward Field track.
She was more than three seconds behind when she got going, and even though her lead was down to 2.59 seconds by the 400m mark, it was still too big.
Mu lost momentum down the backstretch and jogged off for the final 100 meters. She finished 22.33 seconds behind winner Nia Akins.
In Tokyo, Mu won the 800 meters in an American record time. At age 19, she became the youngest American woman to win an individual gold medal in track and field since Wyomia Tyus won the 100 meters at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
In 2022, Mu won the world title in Eugene, becoming the youngest woman ever to win an Olympic and world title in an individual track and field event.
In 2023, Mu considered skipping the world championships but won the bronze medal instead. She said “a lot happened” that year and wasn't out of competition for two years.
Three weeks later, Mu broke the American record in her final race before the Olympic Trials.
“I'm just happy with the fact that I was able to come out and actually be happy and enjoy what I'm doing,” she said that day.
Mu said after his semifinal win on Sunday that he had injured his hamstring in late April and only started running two weeks before the qualifying rounds.
A new Olympic champion will be crowned in Paris in the women's 800 meters.
Aikins repeated as U.S. 800m champion and qualified for her first Olympic Games, while runner-up Allie Wilson and third-place finisher Juliet Whittaker were also making their Olympic debuts.
Three years ago, Akins and Mu collided about 175 meters into the Olympic Trials final. Mu stumbled momentarily but still ran a personal best and won handily. Akins fell and finished last.
“This sport is just so crazy and unpredictable and tough,” Akins said Monday night. “Nobody should have to go through this. (Mu) shouldn't have had to go through this today. I shouldn't have had to go through this three years ago.”
“If that hadn't happened then, I wouldn't be here today. Honestly, it took a while, but I'm really grateful. I learned a lot.”
The 800m is the shortest race in which runners run in a group rather than in individual lanes (though they still start in lanes).
That's confusing, and it's becoming commonplace in court cases.
In 2016, World Championship medalists Alicia Montaño and Brenda Martinez collided with 150 meters to go, resulting in the pair finishing second to the bottom.
In 2023, an exhausted Whittaker took a fall with about 10 meters remaining in the semifinals of the U.S. Championships.
“I remember going home after that fall,” Whitaker, who will be a junior at Stanford, said Monday night. “I was heartbroken and really sad, but I knew next year I was going to be on that team.”
