2024 looked like a disaster for Athing Mu until now. The American sprinter who dazzled with gold in both the 800-meter and the 4×400-meter relay at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics faced a challenging season. After a fall during the U.S. Olympic trials, she missed the chance to defend her 800m title in Paris. She fought tooth and nail and submitted an appeal as her fall was the result of getting tangled with other athletes, only for it to get denied. She got spiked and sustained scrapes and an ankle injury due to the incident. When she sought redemption at the Holloway Pro Classic, luck wasn’t on her side once again as she faded to the fifth position. But there’s finally some great news!

On September 8, she shared joyful news on Instagram—she’s engaged! She captioned the post, “In a year full of noes, Jesus has blessed me with a YES! 🤍”

She touched upon how difficult the season has been for her, yet the 22-year-old is content with her personal life. The athlete shared a carousel of images that showed the special moment! The five adorable photos included one where her fiancé was down on one knee and another of them sharing a heartfelt hug. One photo showed Athing Mu proudly displaying her new ring, while another captured the couple happily strolling through a picturesque landscape.

However, while the love of her life popped the question and Mu said yes, his identity remains a mystery.

Mu previously dated fellow track star Brandon Miller. While they did not officially announce their breakup, evidence suggests they broke up in 2023. Fans and social media users noticed that they unfollowed each other on Instagram around the 2023 USA Championships. They had started dating in August 2022.

Back in July 2023, when Mu was experimenting with 1500m, Miller was quite supportive of her and revealed, “She grew up around the 1500, so, even though she hasn’t done it a lot at this level, she’s just so talented and you know, I know that she’s capable of great things in there. She’s starting to like it too.”

We reckon that Mu’s fiance is equally supportive of her career, if not more. After all, she is young and though the 2024 season hasn’t been great for her, the road ahead is quite long. The post announcing her engagement quickly went viral, with fans, athletes, and celebrities flooding the comments with congratulations and well wishes for the happy couple.

Athletes and celebrities celebrate Athing Mu’s big news

Among the flood of congratulatory messages, English athlete Keely Hodgkinson also joined in the celebration, dropping a heartfelt comment: “Omg! Congratulations 💕.” Despite being old rivals in the 800 meters, Mu and Hodgkinson share a supportive bond, with no bad blood between them. As Mu once said, “I think we’re going to push each other,” highlighting their mutual respect and encouragement.

American Paralympic star Hunter Woodhall joined the congratulatory wave, commenting with heartfelt enthusiasm and congratulating Athing Mu: “Wow so unbelievably happy for both of you! Congratulations.”

Now, a lot of fans were surprised by the announcement. Considering how no one really knew she was in a relationship, it caught people off guard. Similarly, not everyone knew that Mu and Miller broke up a long time ago.

Together, they started training under Bobby Kersee in Los Angeles in 2022. While Mu is still training under him, Brandon Miller is now coached by Milton Mallard.

Further, as the flood of applauses kept coming in for Athing Mu, American sprinter Justin Gatlin jumped in with a celebratory “Congratulations 🍾🎊🎉” while Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone kept it sweet with a trio of heartfelt emojis “🥹🥹🥹.”

McLaughlin-Levrone, the American hurdler known for her own standout performances, mirrored Athing Mu’s surprise announcement as she revealed her plans to run the 200m and 400m at the Diamond League final.

A lot more comments poured in. Alexis Ohanian commented, “Congrats!!!”

It seems Mu’s personal life is exactly where she wants it to be. Now, since that’s in place, it would be interesting to see her get back on track and compete once again. What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.