Athing Mu wins the women's 800m at the Olympics 2021 

The Tokyo Olympics witnessed its youngest gold medallist in athletics yet as Athing Mu of USA won the women's 800m event in 1:55.21.

Athing Mu was still a teenager when she won the US Olympic Trials in June 2021 to make the trip to the Tokyo Olympics. Now, she is the Olympic gold medallist in the 800m. Since her impressive debut on the US athletic scene just 3 years ago, Athing Mu has set several records, and not all of them are junior records. Her fantastic performances had grabbed headlines even before the Tokyo Olympics.

Athing Mu leads new generation at the Tokyo Olympics

Athing Mu, along with Keely Hodgkinson (of Great Britain), represents a new and younger generation of athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. Of the eight finalists in the 800m at the Tokyo Olympics, Athing and Keely were both under 20 years old. Both were making their Olympic debuts in Tokyo.

With this race, Athing Mu and Keely Hodgkinson will stamp their youth all over the Tokyo Olympics. The celebrations began immediately thereafter, as the youngsters got over their initial disbelief with their great performances. Athing Mu was on call right after the finish, asking "Where's the enthusiasm?!"

Keely Hodgkinson, who has had a fairly unbelievable journey to the Tokyo Olympics, had a good night too. She won silver in 1:55.88.

Raevyn Rogers of the USA won bronze in 1:56.81, narrowly beating Jemma Reekie of Great Britain by nine-hundredths of a second at the finish line. Rogers came from almost sixth place, with about 50m to go, to finish strong. While Reekie will no doubt be disappointed with missing out on a medal, the personal best should be some consolation.

It was a race reminiscent of the amazing 800m men's race at the 2012 London Olympics where all eight runners ran their personal bests. The first five women in this 800m final at the Tokyo Olympics ran personal bests. In fact, six of the eight finalists ran personal bests. It will be a night to remember for all three medallists, and especially so for the two teenagers.

On a day marked by Karsten Warholm's mind-blowing performance in the 400m hurdles event, Athing Mu ensured that fans of athletics had more to cheer about. Earlier in the day, Keely had tweeted about Warholm's race, which had clearly impressed the young Olympian.

45.94!!!!! 45.94!!!!!! That's it. That's the tweet🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

— KnH (@keelyhodgkinson) August 3, 2021

Now the two young running stars of the Tokyo Olympics, Athing Mu and Keely Hodgkinson, will receive fan following along similar lines. Their race tonight should be the start of several special performances.