Heartbreak continues for Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's training partner Athing Mu at the USATF Championships 2025 

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's training partner, Athing Mu, faced another upset of the 2025 season in the women's 800m event at the USATF Outdoor Championships. The championship started on July 31 and will conclude on August 3 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

The 2025 season so far hasn't turned out as expected for Mu in the 800m, as after her upsetting race at the Prefontaine Classic, where she finished last, she has now fallen short of making it to the 800m finals at the USATF Championships. The American qualified for the semi-final round after competing in the first round of 800m on day 1 of the championship, where she earned the second-place finish after clocking 2:00.06.

However, the semi-finals couldn't witness a dominant performance by Mu, as she earned a tenth-place finish after registering a time of 1:59.79. Following this performance, she is no longer eligible to compete in the 800m finals of the championship. One of the track and field insiders shared the news on their X handle, stating:

"After the second 800m semi, Athing Mu-Nikolayev is officially knocked out of the qualifying spots for the 800m finals #USATFOutdoors."

The first three positions of the 800m semi-finals at the USATF Nationals were taken by Nia Akins, Ajee Wilson, and Sage Hurta-Klecker, respectively.

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's partner, Athing Mu, made her feelings known about her upsetting performance at the Prefontaine Classic

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's training partner, Athing Mu, had a heartbreaking experience at the 50th edition of the Prefontaine Classic, which took place on July 5 at the Hayward Field. This was her first 800m of the season, where she earned the last-place finish after clocking a time of 2:03.44.

Following this upset, she spoke about her performance in the post-race interview with Citius Mag. Opening up about her performance in the race, she revealed that she was hoping to win and spoke about her practice sessions for the 800m. (0:08 onwards)

"I was definitely hoping for the win, I was definitely hoping to run fast. I think it definitely suc*s not being able to have run a couple of 800's before this. Working out of practice is really great but when it comes to competition, it takes a little bit more," said Mu.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's training partner, Mu added,

"I knew that coming in but unfortunately a lot of the meets in the US were cancelled, especially the ones that we were hoping to run in. I am glad I made it through the race."

On the other hand, her training partner, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, qualified for the 400m semi-finals on day 2 of the USATF Championships, as she stood atop the podium with a time of 49.59s.

Edited by Tushhita Barua