Olympic champion Mu falls in US trials & will miss Paris

Athing MuImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Athing Mu won gold in the 800m and 4x400m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

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Reigning women's Olympic 800m champion Athing Mu will not defend her title at the 2024 Paris Games after falling in the US trials.

The 22-year-old tripped as she ran in the middle of the pack about 200m into the race in Eugene, Oregon and finished last.

Nia Akins won the race and will travel to Paris along with runner-up Allie Wilson and third-placed Juliette Whittaker.

Mu would have been expected to be a key adversary for Team GB's Keely Hodgkinson, who claimed silver behind the American in the 800m in Tokyo as a teenager.

In the men's 400m, Quincy Hall chased down 2022 world champion Michael Norman after the final turn to win in 44.14 seconds.

"I know I can run a lot faster than I did," Norman said.

"It was just a poorly executed race, I got a little too excited during the moment so I paid for it at the end."

Chris Bailey was third and will compete in Paris while 16-year-old Quincy Wilson finished sixth to put him in the mix for a call-up to the relay pool.

Grant Holloway, who took silver at Tokyo 2020, won his heat in the men's 110m hurdles.

"I just wanted to put pressure on the field, let everybody know that I'm still on top," Holloway said.

Anna Hall won the heptathlon and will be joined in France by Chari Hawkins and Taliyah Brooks.

Cole Hocker, who won silver at the world indoors, won the men's 1500m and heads to the Games alongside Yared Nuguse and Hobbs Kessler.

Elle St Pierre set a meet record to hold off Elise Cranny on the home stretch in the women's 5,000m with Karissa Schweizer third.

The US trials resume on Thursday when 100m winners Noah Lyles and Sha'Carri Richardson are expected to compete in the opening heats of the men's and women's 200m.