Lake takes heart after early misfire to target the Olympics in Paris
Morgan Lake insists an Olympic medal is still the aim despite a disappointing performance at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
Lake finished sixth in the high jump, eventually bowing out at 1.97m after a difficult evening that saw her fail her first attempt at the opening height and clear two more on the third attempt.
But Lake is determined to learn from her performance as she bids to earn a maiden Olympic medal in Paris this summer.
“The end goal this year is to medal in Paris. Medalling here was a big goal of mine which we didn’t achieve, so it’s really frustrating. But it gives me some fire for the rest of the season,” she said.
“It didn’t really go to plan from the start, when you miss your opening height it always puts you on the back foot.
“I had a lot of third attempts as well but I am happy with the way it went in terms of resilience and just keeping myself in the competition.
“I had two good attempts at 1.97m, there wasn’t a point where I feared the bar or thought I wasn’t going to clear it.
“It has been a tough couple of weeks since the British Championships. I jumped 1.85m there and, for me, that was almost a bit of a shock and really knocked my confidence a lot. Going into this, I was grateful for every bar I cleared and just thought step-by-step.
“At the beginning of the season my main aim was to medal at these championships, throughout the competition today I still felt like I could do that.
“It’s annoying and really frustrating but I have to reflect on the season.”
There were better fortunes for some of the other Brits in action, with team captain Laviai Nielsen safely through to the 400m final while Revee Walcott-nolan and Georgia Bell booked their places in the 1500m final on Sunday.
Adam Fogg also made it through to the men's 1500m final despite being tripped but it was disappointment for Callum Elson, who did not finish due to injury.
The first medal of the championships went to Canada’s Sarah Mitton, who had her shot put world title tied up by lunchtime thanks to a distance of 20.22m, while USA’S Ryan Crouser sealed the men's title in the evening.
“It feels amazing,” Mitton said. “I have never been able to call myself a world champion and today I can do that.
“I have had bigger throws in training so I am really happy to see that come out. It is really sweet, I have been on the other end where you put in a lot of work and it doesn't come out on the day.
“It takes some years, some experience, and lots of big competitions to get that under your belt. I feel like I am finally there and I can feel confident every time I step into the ring.
“This is the first time I have been undefeated in a season and it feels really amazing. I am really looking forward to stepping it up for Paris, getting back to work and trying to throw even bigger.”