Lake still targeting Olympic medal despite indoor disappointment

By James Reid in Glasgow

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 the 26-year-old is determined to learn from her showing 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.”

Lake bounced back from her difficult start to clear 1.88m and 1.92m at the third attempt, equalling her seasons best with the latter. She cleared just 1.85m at the UK Indoor Championships in February.

After skipping 1.95m after one failed attempt, 1.97m ultimately proved too much but Lake was determined to take the positives from the opportunity to compete in front of a home crowd.

“It has been a tough couple of weeks since the British champs, 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 was so nice to see my family in the crowd, everyone felt so supportive which was amazing. It definitely helped for those third time clearances, I didn't feel as alone when I stood on my mark.

“It’s annoying and really frustrating but I have to reflect on the season. Unfortunately I couldn't bring home a medal today but hopefully sometime this summer."

The world’s best athletes head to Scotland for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 from 1-3 March and you can keep up to date with the latest on the World Athletics website, its associated platforms and via broadcasters around the world.