One of the sport's brightest stars as the reigning Olympic and world champion in the women's 800 meters at just 21 years old, Mu was in effect choosing to focus on the 800 at August's world championships in Budapest, Hungary. The meet director of the Ed Murphey Classic, Max Paquette, confirmed in an email Wednesday that Mu had withdrawn for a "precautionary measure ahead of the World Championships." If she does choose to run at this month's world championships, it would be the 800 solely and not on any U.S. relay, Kersee added. In track and field, the most important — and for many athletes, lucrative, because of shoe-company contract incentives — competitions are world championships held in odd years and the summer Olympic games every four. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Olympics to be postponed one year, it compressed the sport's championships into a tight timeline, with either a world championships or Olympics every year from 2021 through 2025.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 02, 2023 20:01 UTC