Olympic Gold Medalist Athing Mu to Miss Paris Games After Falling During Trials

Athing Mu will miss out on the chance to defend her gold medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics after falling during the U.S. track and field trials.

On Monday, June 24, the 22-year-old Olympic gold medalist was running the 800-meter race in Eugene, Ore., when she stumbled about 200 meters in, the BBC reported.

Despite getting back up on her feet and doing her best to catch up as seen in a clip posted to X (formerly known as Twitter), the 2023 World Championships bronze medalist from New Jersey failed to make it into the top three.

Nia Akins won the race, followed by runner-up Allie Wilson while Juliette Whittaker came in third place. They will all be heading to the Olympics for the first time, per NBC News.

“I’ve coached it, I’ve preached it, I’ve watched it,” Mu’s coach, Bobby Kersee, told the Associated Press of Monday's events. 

“And here’s another indication that regardless of how good we are, we can leave some better athletes home than other countries have. It’s part of our American way,” Kersee added.

The coach confirmed Mu — who has been dealing with injures all season — had track burns, hurt her ankle and got spiked when she fell, per AP.

She filed an appeal, but her protest was denied by USA Track and Field officials, the outlet added.

“She’s going to be licking her wounds for a couple of days,” Kersee continued, per AP.

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Mu — who nabbed gold medals in the 800-meter and the 4x400-meter relay at the 2020 Tokyo Games — didn't do any interviews after the race, and was reportedly choking back tears as she headed off the track.

She could still get the chance to go to the Paris Olympics as part of the U.S. relay pool.

In an interview with The Guardian published on June 21, Mu acknowledged that setbacks will happen in her career. “Say I run 10 more years. In those years, so many things will happen. It’s not going to be all smooth sailing. Problems that we have are lessons that we learn,” she told the outlet.

While speaking to PEOPLE in July 2022, Mu talked about what life has been like since her big wins at the 2020 Olympics. "My life has changed so much from Tokyo, so it's just been a lot to adjust to, and I think even at this point right now, I'm still adjusting," she said.

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"Most of the time, I'm very chill about big competitions. I think that's a good mindset to have, only because when you get there, it's going to be so amped up," Mu added of taking part in big events at the time.

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visit TeamUSA.com and come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, beginning July 26, on NBC and Peacock.