COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M national champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Athing Mu has been named the 2021 World Athletics Female Rising Star, the organization announced Wednesday.
The World Athletics Female Rising Star Award shines the spotlight on the top under-20 athlete of the year in the world. Fellow female nominees included: Keely Hodgkinson (Great Britain), Silja Kosonen (Finland), Christine Mboma (Namibia) and Zerfe Wondemagegn (Ethiopia).
Mu is the second American to claim the award in four years, as Sydney McLaughlin garnered the honor in 2018.
From stopping the clock at 2:01.07 in the 800m in her indoor collegiate debut on Jan. 16 to running a 1:55.04 outdoor 800m on Aug. 21 in her Diamond League debut, all the speedster did in between was win. Between prelims, finals and relays, at distances of 400m, 800m and 1500m, Mu walked away victorious in 35 of the 36 races she entered.
Most notably, she etched her name in history after finishing with Olympic gold medals in the 800m and 4x400m at the Tokyo Games. The Trenton, New Jersey, native ran an American 800m record time of 1:55.21 to become the first American female to win Olympic gold in 53 years in the event. A few days later, she anchored the 4x400m relay to victory with a blistering 48.32 split.
Since electing to forego her remaining three years of NCAA eligibility on June 19, Mu has been flawless in professional 800m races with a 7-0 record. The Nike pro won her Diamond League debut on Aug. 21, bettering her previous American record with a time of 1:55.04.
In her lone season in the Maroon & White, Mu compiled a resume good enough to be considered a finalist for prestigious awards such as the AAU James E. Sullivan Award and The Bowerman Trophy. Breaking records was an every-meet occurrence as she set 11 collegiate all-time top-12 marks, including six all-time collegiate records. Individually, she owns the indoor 600m (1:25.80), indoor 800m (1:58.40), outdoor 400m (49.57) and outdoor 800m (1:57.73) records. She anchored two collegiate record relays, the indoor 4x400m (3:26.27/50.27 split) and the outdoor 4x400m (3:22.34/48.85 split). Mu ended the season with eight Texas A&M records.
Her season best indoor 800m time of 1:58.40 currently stands as the under-20 indoor 800m world record, while her fastest indoor 400m split at 49.54 ranks No. 1 in world history.
She finished the campaign a four-time first-team All-American, including a three-time NCAA Champion winning the outdoor 400m title, as well as a member of the 4x400m relay that claimed the indoor and outdoor titles. She combined to score 23 points at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The speedster claimed the Southeastern Conference indoor 800m title, outdoor 400m and 4x400m titles.
In total, she set 24 personal bests (seven indoors, 17 outdoors, including relays), broke one world under-20 record and eight American under-20 records.
For her efforts, she was named the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Indoor and Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, as well as the SEC Indoor and Outdoor Freshman Runner of the Year and the Track and Field News Indoor U.S. Woman of the Year.
