‘Going for the Gold’ exhibition at Ellarslie Mansion celebrates Athing Mu and 16 past Trenton Olympians

The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie Mansion’s “Going for the Gold” exhibition celebrating Trenton Olympians past and present runs through Sept. 6. The exhibition features photos of Athing Mu and 16 Trenton Olympians from the past.

Athing Mu (uh-thing moe) was born in Trenton. Her parents emigrated from Sudan, and she is the second youngest of seven siblings. She graduated from Trenton Central High School in 2020 as an honors student. In Trenton, she ran with the Trenton Track Club and was coached by Al Jennings. In 2020, Track and Field News named her the national high school indoor athlete of the year. She ran for Texas A&M for the 2020-21 academic year before deciding to go pro this June, when she signed a contract with Nike.

Mu holds the U-20 Indoor 400-meter NCAA record of 49:57 and 800-meter record of 1:57:73. She also anchored the Texas A&M team to victory in the 4×400-meter relay in 3:22.34, another collegiate record. On June 27, she won her first outdoor U.S. title and broke the Olympic trial record in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:5607. She is a favorite to win gold at the Olympics in Tokyo.

Other former Trenton Olympians featured in the exhibition include:

-Albert Cooper, a goalie on the 1928 U.S. Olympic soccer team

-Peter Pietras, a midfielder on the 1936 U.S. Olympic soccer team

-George Nemchik, a forward on the 1936 U.S. Olympic soccer team

-Julius Chimielewski, a forward on the 1936 U.S. Olympic soccer team

-Gail Peters, a member of the 1952 U.S. Olympic swimming team

-Lawrence Low, a member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic yachting team

-Susan Pitt, a member of the 1964 U.S. Olympic swimming team

-Sammy Goss, a member of the 1968 U.S. Olympic boxing team

-Thomas Hardiman, a member of the 1973 U.S. Olympic handball team

-Andrew Stroukof, a member of the winter 1976 U.S. Olympic ice dancing team

-Wendy Vereen, an 4×100 relay alternate for the 1984 U.S. Olympic track and field team

-Cynthia Stinger, a Trenton native who grew up in Lawrence and Willingboro, and was on the 1984, 1988, and 1992 U.S. Olympic handball teams

-Gwynneth Coogan, a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic track and field team in the 10,000-meter race

-Rocco Marvaldi, a member of the winter 1992 U.S. Olympic team in pairs skating

-Terrance Cauthen, a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team in boxing

-Bobby Sanquine, a Trenton native who grew up in Lumberton and went to the Lawrenceville School, was on the winter 2018 U.S. Olympic hockey team

The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie Mansion is located at Cadwalader Park, 299 Parkside Avenue, Trenton, NJ, 08606. The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.