A 19-year-old from New Jersey blew away the field to win Team USA's first Olympic 800 meter gold in almost 50 years

• 19-year-old Athing Mu won gold in dominant fashion at the Tokyo Olympics in the women's 800 meters.
• She is the first American woman to win gold in the event since Madeline Mims in 1968.
• Texas A&M student Mu is the daughter of South Sudanese parents, and started running at the age of 6.

Athing Mu's dominant win in the Tokyo Olympics women's 800 meter race showed Team USA's athletics squad has new a star on its hands.

The 19-year-old finished clear of the chasing pack and became the first American since 1972 to win the event, and the first woman since 1968 to do so.

Mu, one of seven children born to parents who emigrated to the US from South Sudan, grew up in Trenton, New Jersey, and showed a gift for athletics early on.

She began running at the age of six at the Trenton Track Club and her brother, Deng, told the New York Times her roots have given her a focus to improve her life.

"When you are from an immigrant family that comes in with its back against the wall, you know what the bottom is

"It gives us a focus on pursuing things that would help us improve our lives," he said.

One of her former coaches told TIME that unlike other children her age, Mu showed a preference for long distance races rather than sprints.

While Mu excels particularly at 800 meters, generally considered the shortest non-sprint race, she is also an accomplished runner over 400 meters. In June she set a collegiate record for the 400 meters, running a 49.57 at the NCAA Championship for her university, Texas A&M.

So fast is that time that it would have seen her finish in the bronze medal position had she run it at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

While Mu is only running in the 800 meters at Tokyo, her success over 400 meters at college level suggests she could become a double distance athlete at elite level.

If she were to win both the 800 meters and 400 meters at a future Olympics, she would be only the second person in history, and the first woman, to do so. Previously, Cuba's Alberto Juantorena won both at Montreal 1976

To earn her place at the Olympics, she recorded the second fastest result in American history with a time of 1:56.07 at Olympic trials.

She made her senior Olympic debut at Tokyo, but has competed at the games before having won the silver medal in the 800 meters at 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Her victory on the track also ensured she matched the feats of one of her heroes, Madeline Mims. Before Mu, Mims was the only American woman to win the 800 meters.

Outside of athletics, Mu told Texas A&M's official website that her favorite TV show is Gray's Anatomy, and that if she had a superpower, she'd like to be able to teleport.

She also listens to music from the 2011 Disney movie "Lemonade Mouth," to psyche herself up for races.