AAU Jr. Olympics Countdown Profiles: Athing Mu Looks For AAU 800m National Record

Jul 24, 2017

Athing Mu from Trenton, New Jersey, looks to finally jump into the spotlight after sitting out her freshman track season at Trenton Central. She opted to continue working with with her club coach with whom she's been training since she was 5 years old. Her success with the team over the past few years has been quite impressive. Last year at the AAU Junior Olympics she finished runner-up to McKinney North rising sophomore London Culbreath (Texas) in the 1500m, running a personal best of 4:36.55. She has also been the 2015 13-year-old AAU Junior Olympic Games 800m champion (2:10.18) and the 2016 14-year-old AAU Junior Olympic Games champion (2:10.85).

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Who: Athing Mu

Age Group: 15-16-year-olds

Events: 800m, 1500m

Where: AAU Junior Olympics (Ypsilanti, Michigan)

When: July 29 to August 5

Breakdown: Mu has the best time in both the 15-16-year-old 800m and 1500m fields. Out of the 80 entered in the 800m field so far, Mu has the best time by over eight seconds with a 2:07.18. Her time of 4:36.78 also dominates the 1500m field by over 20 seconds. Mu will be not only looking for the win in both of these events but also potential 15-16-year-old age group national records. The current 800m record is held by 2016 World Indoor Championship silver medalist Ajee Wilson from Neptune, New Jersey, who ran a time of 2:07.08 in 2009. The current 15-16-year-old 1500m record is held by Freinds Central (Pennsylvania) rising senior Gabrielle Wilkinson who set the record at 4:32.59 in 2014. Both times are in Mu's reach as she just dropped a PR of 2:07.18 in the 800m last weekend and a 4:36.78 in the 1500m at the AAU National Club Championship.