Love Athing to death but she's got a lot going on.
Kersee, as many have pointed out, is probably the biggest issue. He's had three years and has done almost nothing for her. He's wasting some of the best years of her life. He either doesn't know what he's doing or he's keeping her out of McLaughlin's lane (or both). It is beyond ridiculous that the former NCAA record holder in the 400 meters who was splitting 48's has not run a 400 since leaving College Station. That is criminal. I think some of this is intentional.
Athing had A LOT of success almost immediately when she arrived in College Station. Her two years here couldn't have gone much better. My guess is that much success that early gives you a 'what else is left for me to do' mentality. She literally won everything possible by the age of 20. Also, when you have THAT much success, people start pulling at you from all different directions from a non-track standpoint. That's hard for someone that young to deal with, especially in an individual sport.
And, finally, --and this is just my personal opinion -- marrying a 36-year-old when you are 22 just doesn't pass the smell test for me. Not saying it's not possible for something like that to work just fine, but the math doesn't math to me.
I'd love nothing more for her to get the hell away from Kersee and find a proven 800 coach. To a certain extent, I think it would solve all of the above, one way or another.
