Nia Akins leads freshman trio heading to Paris 2024 in 800m as Olympic champ Athing Mu crashes mid-race at U.S. Trials
This is why they’re called Trials.
In a shocking women’s 800m final, reigning Olympic champion Athing Mu crashed out mid-race, losing her chance to defend her gold medal at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - track & field on Monday night (24 June).
Nia Akins, a 25-year-old from California, took the lead shortly after the crash, which took place just after the opening 200 metres - and then never looked back. Akins finished with a personal best time of 1:57.36. It was a dramatic bounce back from the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials when, like Mu, Akins fell to the track in finals to finish ninth.
Akins leads a trio of first-time Olympians for Team USA in the 800m.
A shocked Akins was still absorbing the reality of her win, saying on NBC, "I can’t believe it. I was telling Allie [Wilson] ‘I think I’m dreaming.’ I’m just speechless.”
Wilson qualified with a season’s best time of 1:58:32, hitting the Olympic standard in the process.
A breathless Wilson credited Akins for pushing her to qualify: "I knew given the depth of the 800 in this country, it was not going to be a small feat to make his team, and I honestly think Nia paved the way for a lot of us last year improving like that [and showing] you can step up at this level and really do big things.
"I've been admiring her ever since and to make that team with her. it's so amazing. I'm honoured.”
Collegian Juliette Whittaker took the final Olympic berth with a personal best time of 1:58.45.
After the crash, Mu climbed back onto her feet in an attempt to re-join the pack, but it was not to be. The 22-year-old will not have the chance to defend her gold medal in Paris. Mu crossed the finish line in a distant ninth, tearfully walking off the track.
"Unfortunately, that's a part of racing," Wilson said of Mu, who didn't speak to reporters after the fall. "Things like that happen. I was relieved that it wasn't me, to be honest."
Olympic silver medalist Raevyn Rogers will also not be in Paris, she finished in seventh, while collegiate standout Michaela Rose was fourth.
Nia Akins on her hunger into Paris: 'I don't feel inexperienced'
In a recent interview with Run, Akins shared that came into these U.S. Olympic Trials with a clear focus, “Before my last race, I deleted all social media and decided to just ignore the noise and distraction that comes with it.”
The 25-year-old from San Diego trains with the Brooks Beast under coach Danny Mackey. Akins has been consistent in her progression since winning the outdoor U.S. title last year here in Eugene with a time of 1:59.50. She followed with a sixth-place finish at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest and a personal best time of 1:57.73.
That appearance in Budapest is something she said will help her in Tokyo. "I think having that experience is super important now," she told reporters. "That was my first time being really in over my head last year. ... Seeing that gap [at the end] and wanting to do better, just having that hunger from Budapest going into Paris, it's not going to be so unfamiliar racing those ladies.
"I'm not going to feel inexperienced, which I think is huge."
"Nobody deserves that," added Akins about Mu.
She said she feels like she could go even faster in Paris: "I'm curious to see in Paris, the competition is going to be super difficult there. I don't know how it's going to play out. Being in a kick battle on the homestretch... I'm expecting to have to work a lot harder."
Second-place finisher Wilson’s inaugural Olympic bid in 2021 ended with a sixth-place Trials finish. Today was different as the reigning 2024 USA Indoor Champ sprinted ahead of Whittaker to finish with a season’s best time of 1:58.32 to make her first Olympic team.
The 28-year-old Pennsylvania native has shown that she has more to give—having set a personal best of 1:58.09 in 2022.
20-year-old Whittaker, a sophomore at Stanford, is on a roll. Earlier this month, she won her first national title at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships here at Hayward. She turned that win around to finish third today on the same field to qualify for her first Olympic Games.