Athing Mu

EUGENE, Ore. – After a near six-hour delay to consistent heat over 100-degrees, Aggies Athing Mu and Annie Kunz claimed US Olympic Trials Championships to punch tickets to the Tokyo Olympics on the final day (27 June) at Hayward Field.

Mu, representing Nike, won the 800m with an Olympic Trials record time of 1:56.07. Her time is a current world-leading mark and is the second-fastest by an American all-time. It bettered her previous American Under-20 record and ranked No. 3 on the all-time world U-20 list.

The 19-year-old qualified for her first USA Olympic Team.

Athing Mu on breaking a 25-year old meet record.
“Awesome. Honestly, I wanted to break some record. 25-years is a really long time, and it feels awesome. I knew it was within me, and it feels great to have my name down next to it for the next U.S. Trials.”

After ending day one of the heptathlon in first place with 4,042 points, Kunz continued her dominance ending the two-day competition with an all-time personal best and a world-leading score of 6,703 points. She began the day with a personal best in the long jump at 21-4 (6.50m) and equalled her personal best in the javelin 147-10 (45.06m), before running 2:15.24 in the 800m.

The Aggie professional surpassed the Olympic qualifying standard score of 6,420 to make her first career USA Olympic Team.

Aggie professionals Fred Kerley and Shamier Little finished fourth in their respective events, just missing advancement to Tokyo.

Kerley ran a personal best 200m time of 19.90. Despite missing out on making Team USA in the 200m, the speedster earned a spot on Team USA in the 100m earlier in the week with a personal best time of 9.86.

The Nike professional became the third man in world history to ever run a sub-10 second in the 100m (9.86), sub-20 second in the 200m (19.90) and sub-44 second in the 400m (43.64) in their career.

Little, representing Adidas, finished the 400m hurdles race at 53.85, .15 seconds behind third-place finisher Anna Cockrell. Sydney McLaughlin, representing New Balance, won the race with a world record time of 51.90.

Earlier in the week, Aggies Maggie Malone (javelin), Kerley (100m) and Bryce Deadmon (Relay Pool) each earned spots on Team USA.

Aggies Quotes
Annie Kunz on:
the event and bettering her personal best by 550 points…
“There are moments when I thought I couldn’t do it and they were there with me. I can’t wait to get home and celebrate with loved ones. Just to be with them and enjoy the experience with them this week. God is good. Anything is possible when you are with God. It keeps me at peace. I never in a million years thought I could score what I scored tonight. Hard work pays off. It really does.”

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