In the recent annual selection of the World Athletics Federation, Xiao Mu, a girl born in the United States in 2002, received two nominations - the Best Female Athlete of the Year Award and the Women's Rising Star of the Year Award. In the end, she won the Women's Rising Star of the Year Award.
This girl, although she has created amazing results two years ago, this year is her "debut year". Turning from student to professional athlete, at the age of 19, she competed for the Olympics for the first time, winning two gold medals – the 800m and the 4×400m relay.
6 years old on the track
Xiao Mu has seven brothers and sisters, and she is the sixth oldest. Because of her talent, she began track and field training with her brothers and sisters early on, and set foot on the track at the age of 6. Before college, she practiced at the Trenton Athletics Club in New Jersey, and now the club's record book, the women's 200 meters to 1 mile record, belongs to Xiao Mu.
In New Jersey, Mu Jr. has many role models around him, such as McLaughlin, who practices short jumps, and Wilson, who runs 800 meters, all of whom are runners in this state. "Following in their footsteps and trying to reach their level is what I've been chasing." Xiao Mu said.
Like McLaughlin's young fame, Mu Jr. surprised the American athletics scene during the flower season. In 2019, at the age of 16, she won the 600m championship at the National Indoor Championships with a time of 1:23.57, just 0.13 seconds away from the best in world history.
Go to college and change careers
The outbreak of the epidemic has deeply affected the world athletics in 2020, and Xiao Mu has not had too many opportunities to perform. However, she was admitted to college, the famous Texas A&M University.
In 2021, the Olympic year, Xiao Mu, dressed in a school jersey, began to soar from the indoor season. Indoors 400 meters, she ran for 50.52 seconds. Indoors 800 meters, she ran 1:58.40, setting a world indoor youth record (U20).
On her outdoor debut that year, she ran 1:57.73 in the 800m, setting a North American youth record (U20). She then ran 49.84 seconds, 49.68 seconds, and 49.57 seconds in the 400 meters, and won the NCAA National Collegiate Athletics Championships.
At that time, she was a freshman and had already achieved fame at the level of student athletes. Suddenly, she made a decision: to change careers. That is, he suspended his studies and began to become a professional athlete.
Heading to Tokyo
At the National Olympic Trials held in June, Xiao Mu only applied for a single event, 800 meters, and finally won the championship at 1:56.07, successfully getting the ticket to Tokyo.
Then in the 800m final of the Tokyo Olympic Games, she led the way, and finally hit the line first in 1:55.21 and broke the U.S. national record. The runner-up was Hodgkinson of the United Kingdom, also born in 2002, with a score of 1:55.88, a new British national record.
Four days later, Xiao Mu stood on the women's 4×400m relay track and ran the fourth baton. Her teammates are McLaughlin and Mohammed, who finished in the top two in the women's 400m hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics, and Felix, who finished third in the 400m.
The first three bases have accumulated a huge advantage, Andrea Mu extended the victory, her last bat ran 48.32 seconds, and the final result of the United States team was 3:16.85, the fifth best in history and the best record in the world since 1993.
Not long after returning from Tokyo, Xiao Mu won the women's 800m crown in the Eugene station of the World Athletics Federation Diamond League, setting another American record.
The next goal?
Olympic champion, which is how many athletes chase a lifelong dream, Xiao Mu won double gold at the age of 19. She debuted at the peak, what new goals will she have in the future?
"I feel like the women's 800m is moving in a new direction, especially Hodgkinson and I, both young and competitive. If a project has multiple masters of comparable strength and strives towards the same goal, the project will definitely go a long way. I believe that in the future we will create new history. Xiao Mu said.
As for the specific goals, at the 2022 Eugene World Championships, has she ever thought about winning the 400m, 800m and 4×400m relay gold medals?
"Of course I thought about it, but the main thing is 800 meters, and then it's about seeing how the 4×400 meters relay will play. Of course, everything depends on the specifics of the new year. Xiao Mu said, "Becoming the 800m World Champion is my new big goal!" ”
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