(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission.
EUGENE (04-Jul) — When she takes to the track to run the Mutola 800m at the 50th Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field here on Saturday, it will have been 351 days since Athing Mu-Nikolayev will have competed at the distance where she won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021 and set the American record of 1:54.97 in 2023. Under coach Bobby Kersee the 23 year-old athlete has been returning to competition slowly, focusing on over-distance races including a 5000m (where she dropped out as planned at 3000m), and two 1500’s where she ran modest times of 4:21.18 and 4:10.70, respectively. It’s all part of Coach Kersee’s plan to have the former high school star from Trenton, N.J., healthy and in peak shape for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.
“On the track side of things I think people have learned to understand that he knows what he’s doing,” Mu-Nikolayev said of Kersee at a press conference here yesterday. “And though he may take different approaches that other coaches may not take, whether it’s more risky and not of the norm, in the end his plan works out the best for his athletes, and he does not steer us the wrong way. Just growing in trust together has been a big thing over the past couple of years.”
Mu-Nikolayev, who trains with four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, is trying to bounce back from a disappointing year. At last summer’s USA Olympic Team Trials, also held here in Eugene, Mu-Nikolayev tripped and fell in the 800m final just 200 meters into the race. She regained her feet, finished in last place, and did not qualify for the Paris Olympics. She ran only one other race before shutting down her season, and she did not return to competition until April 18, 2025, where she ran the first 3000 meters of the 5000m at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California.
“It’s more fun to do it out here than in practice, just in terms of getting some longer runs in,” Mu-Nikolayev said in her post-race interview when asked why she had competed at Mt. SAC. “It was definitely long, longer than 800m, longer than 1500m.”
While the two 1500’s reacquainted her with faster running, those races were nothing like what she will face on Saturday when she will square-off against 2023 world champion Mary Moraa of Kenya, 2024 world indoor champion Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, 2021 Olympic bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers of the United States, and 2025 world indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso of South Africa, among others. The world-leading time of 1:56.64, set by Duguma in China in May, is likely to come under threat.
“I think this is falling at the perfect time for preparation for the USA’s and, obviously, world championships in September,” Mu-Nikolayev said of Saturday’s race. She continued: “It’s really great to be able to run a fast, competitive 800 around this time of the year.”
All of Mu-Nikolayev’s competitors have already been racing hard this season, which would seem to leave her at a disadvantage. That’s not how Mu-Nikolayev sees it.
“You have to trust your coach if you want to improve and get better with them,” Mu-Nikolayev explained. “So, that’s just a super-important thing that I hold with Bobby and Bobby holds with me. So, I trust that year to year, if we have to adjust things, do things different, that in the end he’ll have me ready for what’s most important, championships, whether the Olympics or worlds.”
Saturday’s race is named after Maria Mutola, the legendary runner from Mozambique who won the Olympic 800m title in 2000 and was the world 800m champion in 1993, 2001 and 2003. Mutola, now 52, won the 800m at the Prefontaine Classic a dozen times from 1992 to 2008. Mu-Nikolayev has won it twice, in 2021 and 2023, setting meet records both times. She definitely enjoys running at Hayward Field, although she appeared to be slightly nervous about doing a “rust-buster” in such hyper-competitive circumstances.
“I’m super-excited, actually, to be back here at the Pre Classic,” Mu-Nicolayev told reporters. She continued: “I’m just excited to go out and just see where my body is at this point of the year in the 800. I’m excited to run fast; I know it’s not going to be a slow race.”
When asked whether she had a time goal, Mu-Nicolayev said she wanted to break two minutes. She added: “I think just going out there and feeling good, both mentally and physically, is the most important thing for me. And seeing the results, obviously, no matter what the time may be, is always a plus. But, I think just completing that race, doing two full laps, would be a really great thing.”
PHOTO: Athing Mu-Nikolayev speaking with reporters at the 50th Prefontaine Classic press conference in Eugene, Oregon (By Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)