'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s training partner, Athing Mu, has expressed her thoughts on how her faith and marriage have helped her reconnect with the sport. She shared this in a post-race interview after her participation in the 2025 Prefontaine Classic last week.
The former Olympic champion didn’t have a great outing at the Diamond League meeting at the University of Oregon, where she finished last with a 2:03.44 run over the 800m distance, in a race that saw Tsige Duguma claim the top spot with a time of 1:57.10.
Following the race, Athing Mu opened up about how her faith and marriage helped her reconnect with track after challenges, stating (2:20 onwards):
“I think there's been a little bit of turmoil of just my relationship with track just because it's been really challenging for me...So, I've kind of had to get myself back into just having fun with track, loving track, love like enjoying training, even though it's hard and challenging sometimes and just remembering why I did this and you know knowing that this is not a gift that I gave myself.”
Trending
“The Lord has blessed me with a gift and so just trying to honor it and so it took me a really long while to get back to that. But it's kind of there's a lot of personal things that happen but I think um having things like marriage and just having that positive side of my life go on a high is helpful because I don't have to go through these situations on my own,” she added.
Notably, Athing Mu experienced a hamstring injury that took time to recover, which led to her featuring directly at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. She faced another setback at the trials as she fell while racing in the 800m final, resulting in a last-place finish with a time of 2:19.69.
Despite appealing to USATF, her appeal for Olympic participation was rejected, although she was the defending champion in the discipline at the Olympics. With that, she suffered a heartbreak as she missed out on competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
A look at Athing Mu’s 2025 track season
Before her appearance at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic, Athing Mu raced at the Track Fest in Los Angeles over the 1500m distance. There, she clocked 4:10.70 in Final 3 to finish second in the race on May 24.
Earlier in the same month, she competed at the Cal State LA Very Last Chance Meet in the same discipline, where she recorded 4:21.18 to claim the top position in the event.
Notably, Athing Mu featured in her first meet after nine months since participating in the Holloway Pro Classic in July 2024, opening her 2025 season at the Mt. SAC Relays in the 5000m. However, she did not finish the race after stepping off the track following the 3000m mark, which she completed in 9:41.75.
