Emily Morden will take lessons from her first experience representing Australia when she heads straight into winter training at a NCAA division one college.
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Morden finished with a DNF result with a lap to go in the women's 3000m steeplechase heats at the Under 20 World Athletics Championships at Colombia on Monday. Teammate and current Australian champion Laura McKillop suffered a similar fate earlier in the race.
Phillip Molesworth, Morden's running coach, said while the Timboon runner was naturally disappointed after the race, the feat of competing itself shouldn't be understated.
"The fact she is there, she's representing Australia, she's got the Australian flag next to her name," he said.
He said early information was that Morden, 19, overheated and after analysing the race, believes it was largely a combination of the heat and running in altitude. He said many of the competitors times were a minute off their best.
The thing with Emily, she's one of those exceptional athletes that will run herself to her absolute limit.
- Phil Molesworth
"It's probably a little to do with she's running at 1000 metres and they had to cool her down," he said. "She was overheated, both her and McKillop suffered the same thing. It had to do with the environment.
"She called me (Tuesday) morning about 3am. She was all chirpy and she's fine but she said it wasn't a lack of air, she wasn't gasping. She wasn't sure what went wrong herself.
"She was comfortable, breathing okay, then all of a sudden, her legs just went to jelly. She stumbled and fell on one jump, then she tried to get going again, but decided no.
"I had told her before, there is no shame in stepping off the track. If you can't, you can't.
"The thing with Emily, she's one of those exceptional athletes that will run herself to her absolute limit.
He said it may have been possible Morden was breathing okay but not getting enough air to her muscles due to a combination of altitude and pace.
"She'll enjoy the rest of (the championships) as a member of the team, supporting others," he said.
Prior to the games, Morden travelled to the University at Miami for training, and will leave the championships and head straight to Utah Valley University, where she has a scholarship.
"She'll move into the college, and start their winter training program," Molesworth said. "They're in their cross country season, so she'll go into that training.
"Then she'll do the indoor season across the College system and then later on in the year, she does the outdoor season and will be doing steeplechase again.
"She'll be working hard when she gets to Utah."
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