Texas A&M freshman Athing Mu was in superb form again this weekend after she broke the all-time collegiate 800m outdoor record Saturday night at the 2021 Michael Johnson Invitational inside the Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium. Watch the video of her dominating the field.
- Indoor 600m – 1:25.80
- Indoor 800m – 1:58.40
- Indoor 4x400m – 3:26.27
- Outdoor 800m – 1:57.73
Watch Athing Mu Super 800m Record Run
Mu, who has been dominating the collegiate circuit all season, powered her way to a stunning time of 1:57.73 to improve her personal best and more notably shattering the previous collegiate record of 1:59.10. Her performance on Saturday also saw her set a North American junior record, as well as improving the previous 2021 world-leading mark.
Mu also punched her ticket to the U.S. Olympic trials. The 18-year-old ran a well-measured tempo for the opening 600m of the race before turning on the burners over the final 150m to cross the finishing line well ahead of her closest challenger in her first appearance over the distance outdoors since 2019.
Her eyeing-popping performance at the 2021 Michael Johnson Invitational this weekend is now the fourth collegiate record set this season by the rampant Mu, who also holds the collegiate indoor records for the 600m (1:25.80), 800m (1:58.40). She was also part of the Texas A&M quartet that ran a blistering 3:26.27 indoors in the 4x400m. The Aggies reported that she ran a 50.27 seconds split on her leg at the time.
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Mu was improving the old North American under-20 record of 1:57.74 which was set by Sahily Diago Mesa in 2014. Former Oregon standout Raevyn Rogers set the previous collegiate record for outdoors with 1:59.10 in 2017.
“Athing [Mu] running 1:57.73 is one of the single greatest performances I’ve ever seen in collegiate track & field,” Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said. “I’ve never seen that dominant of a performance.
“She made second place look bad and second place ran two minutes flat, which is a fantastic time. She is in a league of her own right now.”
NCAA Championships indoor champion Aaliyah Miller of Baylor ran home second in 2:00.87 to also meet the Olympic qualifying standard, so did third-place Olicia Williams, who clocked 2:01.78.
Christine Mboma Does It Again!
Mu time on Saturday was only one of the standout performances by junior athletes this weekend, following the dominating 49.22 seconds by Christine Mboma at the Namibian Championships.
The 17-year-old was running her second world under-20 record for the 400m, following her 49.24 seconds performance less than a week ago in Lusaka, Zambia.
Mboma, and indeed that track and field fraternity will now wait to see If the time is ratified by the World Athletics.
Another impressive time from the race came from Namibian 18-year-old Beatrice Masilingi, who ran 50.05 to finish second. She had posted a time of 49.53 behind Mboma in Lusaka.
