MITCHELL Morgan

General
DISCIPLINE SWITCH
In 2018 she switched her focus from the 400m to the 800m, aiming to compete in the latter at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "When I made the switch I knew I was either going to quit running or change events, because there's no way I'm doing the 400m. I remember having to tell Athletics Australia, and having to tell Adidas [her sponsor] and trying not to cry because Adidas has always been so good to me. Adidas were amazing, they said they were in it for the long haul. Athletics Australia weren't as enthusiastic - it's kind of unfortunate, they knew I was unhappy, it would have been great to have more support. I think they wanted me to just be a relay runner." Less than a year after making the switch she made the 800m semifinals at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. (tempojournal.com, 30 Jul 2019; livekindly.co, 06 Oct 2019)

TOUGH TIMES
Following the 2017 World Championships in London, England, she took time away from the sport to travel in Europe. After resuming training, she says she struggled with her mental health and considered quitting the sport. "I used to sit in my car just crying about the fact I had to get out and go to training. Then [after training] I would quickly run and tell my old coach I had to leave and just sit in my car and cry again because I got anxiety from just being there. Nothing was an escape and I think that's why I felt so lost. Drinking is not my thing. But then I found myself having a wine during the day. I don't drink wine but it was just comfortable. I thought this was making me happy, it's warm and fuzzy so let's keep doing it." After coach Peter Fitzgerald ended their relationship in November 2017, she says her training partner Nathan McConchie convinced her to not give up athletics. "He just said let's go to the track tomorrow, finish off this training programme and go from there. If Nathan didn't have that conversation to drag me to the track, I would have definitely quit." She then worked on her mental health with mindfulness coaches Emma Murray and Bronii Gigliuto. "They just turned my thought process around." (themorningbulletin.com.au, 01 Apr 2018; blog.soulara.com, 06 Mar 2020)