The defending 800m Olympic champion won’t defend her title after a stumble in a single race. Her absence is a needless wound for Team USA

The track and field events at this summer’s Olympics don’t start until August, but Team USA are already losing medals in June.

Athing Mu, who won gold in the women’s 800m in Tokyo and followed up with a world championship the next year at the age of 20, isn’t going to Paris. Neither are Brooke Andersen, the 2022 world champion in the women’s hammer throw, or Laulauga Tausaga-Collins, the 2023 world champion in the women’s discus.