Athing Mu falls in 800m final, dashing hopes for repeat in Paris - ESPN

EUGENE, Ore. — Olympic champion Athing Mu's hopes for a repeat came crashing down on the backstretch of the first lap of the 800-meter final at U.S. track trials Monday.

Racing in the middle of the pack, Mu got tangled up with a bunched group of runners and went crashing to the ground and rolled onto her back, her bright pink shoes flailing toward the sky.

Mu got back to her feet and finished, but was more than 22 seconds behind the winner, Nia Akins, who ran 1 minute, 57.36 seconds.

The 22-year-old from New Jersey was choking back tears as she headed quickly off the track and through the tunnel after the race. She did not immediately come through the media area for interviews.

The Olympic trials were her first meet of the year after dealing with injuries all season. She looked to be in good form in her first two rounds, but was out of the running in the final before the first 200 meters.

It was Exhibit A of the unforgiving format of the U.S. trials, where the top three finishers make the Olympic team and resumes and past performances mean nothing. Mu could still go to Paris as part of the U.S. relay pool; she was a key part of America's gold-medal win in the 4x400 three years ago in Tokyo.

After winning NCAA, national, world and Olympic championships all before turning 21, Mu won a bronze medal at worlds last year and, afterward, conceded she needed a break from all the pressure, social media and other demands that came along with being tagged as one of track's great new stars.

In interviews leading into this week's meet in Eugene, she said she had rediscovered her love for the sport and was looking forward to the quest to become a back-to-back champion.

She has dominated this distance thanks, in part, to a long, loping