Athing Mu Overtaken As 23-Year Old Track and Field Athlete Sets Historic Record

On a sunny day at the Percy Beard Track at the James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Florida, the 2024 SEC men’s and women’s outdoor track and field championships concluded in full swing. Things were going fine until the 23-year-old Jamaican added a twist to the track and field world.

Nickisha Pryce of the Arkansas Razorbacks has just thrown the gauntlet. With just a few seconds to spare, she dashed past the youngest American middle-distance sprinter, Texas A&M’s Athing Mu’s record. With this, she secured her spot in the top three in collegiate history. A viral social media post by Travis Miller, which showcased Pryce’s record-breaking achievement, went viral.

The tweet featured a snapshot of record-breaking charts. The caption read, “49.32😱Nickisha Pryce moves ahead of Athing Mu to THIRD in collegiate history!” Pryce got past Athing Mu’s previous U20 record in 400m where she had clocked 49.57s at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June 2021. But that is not the only achievement Pryce bagged on this day.

Arkansas made history on the day with a sweep of the 400m with all three Razorbacks recording times under 50 seconds. The second and third spots went to Arkansas Razorbacks’ runners Kaylyn Brown and Amber Anning. With their time of 49:47 and 49:51, respectively, they both stood to overcome Mu. Pointing to that, the user added, “@RazorbackTF 1-2-3. Top four ALL sub-50s.”

Alongside, this performance, Pryce also moved to No. 3 in the collegiate list as she only trails a 49.13 by Razorback Britton Wilson and a 49.20 by Rhasidat Adeleke of Texas, both set in 2023.

Pryce outdid herself, improving on her previous best time of 49.72 seconds set just a day earlier in the first round. Her new time of 49.32 seconds not only smashed the NCAA record but also put her in the lead globally. This remarkable achievement also ties her with Shericka ‘wire wire’ Williams, a two-time World Championships silver medalist, as the second-fastest Jamaican woman ever. Pryce’s incredible effort falls just behind the national record of 49.30 seconds made in 2002 by Lorraine Fenton.

Interesting fact: Nickisha Pryce wanted to be a pediatrician.

The Jamaican star was born to Wayne Pryce and Denise Johnson on March 7, 2001, in St. Mary, Jamaica. Shanna and Wayne are her two older siblings, but there is not much information available about them. She has expressed that her favorite athletes are Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson. In 2019, she graduated from Vere Technical HS in Hayes, Jamaica, and moved to Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

In 2023, Pryce debuted as a Razorback in the Arkansas Invitational and she won the third place in 200m with a career-best of 23.76 and ran on winning 4 x 400m relay (3:30.38). She later improved her 200m time at the Razorback Invitational (23.61), won 10th place, and set an indoor career best of 51.97 (from the previous best of 55.58) to place seventh in the 400m. When Pryce participated in the Tyson Invitational she was placed fourth in 400m (52.35) and sixth in 200m (23.22 PR)

On the other hand, Pryce’s recent biggest competitor, Mu, also has some dazzling achievements on her list.

Athing Mu: A record-breaking phenomenon

On the way to the 2021 record that just got broken, Athing Mu had broken her own previous record in 400m. She had pulled off that previous record just a month back (May 2021) by running 49.68s. That made the ninth-fastest American 400-meter runner ever. Also, Mu’s time of 49.57s would have won the U.S. Olympic Trials that year 2021. however, after that dazzling run, she has not been seen competing in 400m races till now. but she is an equal force to reckon with in another event.

Athing Mu has shown her dominance in the 800m races as well. She is the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist in that event. Showing her dominance, she also holds the World Junior Record in 800m while also having the 2022 world championship title in that. With such prowess in the two events, Mu had made an ambitious claim once.

In the summer of 2022, she told the Team USA website that she wanted to become the first woman to win the 400 and 800 meters at the same Olympics, which only one man (Cuba’s Alberto Juantorena) has achieved. However, later on, it seems that she might have shifted from that stand and wants to focus on the event that has given her the greatest success.

“I think we’re definitely focusing on the 800 as of right now. We’re not changing up too much as I’ve just gotten a new training regimen,” Mu had said in an interview last year. Apparently, with this move, she might be looking to replicate her Tokyo fate in the Parisian arena this summer. As her records stand broken, enthusiasts await fresh ones to be registered by the phenom.