On the Werribee Little Athletics grass track lined with white lane markings and abandoned sports bags, a seven-year-old Morgan Mitchell crouched low at the starting line. The finish may have been a mere 60 metres away, but with her family and cousins watching from the sidelines, the significance of the occasion loomed large.
She won her races with ease, flopping into the sweaty embrace of friends before bee-lining towards the cafeteria for a hot dog and Sunnyboy ice block. “I was happier that I got to hang out with my mates than I was running,” Morgan recalls of her entry into athletics, “the running part was just a bonus.”
She might not have had the foresight to imagine a life devoted to the sport, but it was this experience that coloured her attitude towards athletics: one grounded in strong friendships, testing the body’s limits and above all, personal happiness.
At 27, Morgan now boasts an enviable athletic career. In 2016, she made her Olympic debut at Rio in the 400m and 4x400m relay, cementing her place as one of Australia’s most promising track stars. But with such early success came comparisons, with commentators quick to label her the next Cathy Freeman as the nation’s sporting hopes were planted firmly on her shoulders. The future presented itself as one with clear signposts: international success, medals and record times seemed inevitable. Few would have guessed that her experience on the track was fuelled by negativity and personal suffering.
“I feel like I can kind of speak my truth a little bit more now without feeling the need to please people,” says Morgan, relaxing into a smile. “I felt so much pressure to always perform. I felt so much pressure to be a certain person.”
And so, Morgan did something few could have anticipated – she stepped away from the track. She spent three months in Europe with friends, enjoying a life free of routine and regimented training and during that time, she realised that the thing she was good at was still the thing she most wanted to do. She just had to reclaim running for herself, to get back to the childlike enthusiasm first exhibited on that Werribee track. She also branched out to try new things, shifting her focus to the 800m and becoming an F45 Ambassador in March last year.
“I’m so stubborn, I think that’s the reason I had the self-belief,” Morgan jokes. “But I think when you’ve been beaten down so many times, I had this sense of like, I just have to prove these people wrong.”
Not one to shy away from speaking her truth, Morgan was always going to do things her way, her path to success destined to be a previously untrodden one. Here, she explains how she came to value mental health and happiness above track success, her holistic approach to health and wellbeing, and her favourite ways to spend rest day.
Tokyo 2020 set up a dialogue of how hard it is for athletes to go home and reassess goals after reaching the pinnacle of sport. How was that for you?
After Rio I had that issue. We call it the “post-Olympics crash”, where you don’t really know what to do with yourself because you’ve had the highest of all highs, and then life immediately returns to normal. I struggled with that for a long time leading into 2017. But with Tokyo, I think because I had so much going on that year and
I was already injured, I kind of crashed really early. It’s hard to admit but I’m quite vulnerable and have come to terms with it.
Did someone offer you advice or was it something you had to navigate on your own?
I definitely navigated that part on my own, I did get word from past athletes saying, “Just be careful because you’ll feel like absolute sh*t pretty much after it.” You feel depressed because you don’t know what to do with yourself afterwards, it’s very interesting. I think it’s because we’re individual athletes and you need to have an ego, whether you show it or not, you still have that deep inner sense of self-belief. So, when that all goes and you’ve got really nothing to show for it because you’re back in the real world, it’s a bit of a stab.
What are some of the things you do outside of running to practise this holistic idea of health and wellness?
Now I’m living in Sydney, I’m that girl that loves going on coastal walks – don’t judge! I love switching off on a Sunday, no emails, nothing, and I have this full-on, 10-step regimen of hair and face mask, whole facial and hair routine before I go to bed, and that sets me up for the week. It’s nice coming down from a busy week to reset. I think that’s so important because I’m usually a ‘go, go, go’ kind of person.
After appearing in the documentary The Game Changers, you became a face of the plant-based movement. How has going plant-based helped your performance?
I went plant-based in 2015 and, for me, the main benefit has been in my recovery. I’d wake up and feel like a fresh new athlete, no matter what the session was before, whereas in the past it’d take two days to start feeling good again.
What are your go-to plant-based meals?
Definitely a burrito. Yum! You can get jackfruit, or fake meat or tofu, so that’s your protein. Then you just need rice, beans, whatever veggies, and you can get dairy-free cheese. I also love Asian-fusion, so I love making rice noodle bowls.
As an F45 ambassador, what do you love about the role and what drew you to the workouts?
I love connecting with members. It’s been incredible being able to share my knowledge and also learn from the members and coaches. What drew me to the workouts was the versatility. No two workouts are the same. As a track athlete, training can be quite monotonous, so being able to incorporate F45 into my program helps keep me fit and things interesting and fun!
Given the importance of recovery, how do you like to spend your rest days?
If it’s in summer, you’ll find me at the beach. I’m not even joking, from 8am to 4pm I’m at Tamarama Beach [Sydney]. That’s usually all I’ll do. Otherwise, I also love shopping so I’m probably in the CBD, spending money that I don’t have.
Photography: Lauren Schulz. Styling: Abby Bennett. Hair: Laura Mazikana @Deeplyrooted. Make-up: Meg Guthrie. Creative Director: Amanda McCourt. Location: Time and Place; Artist: Reko Rennie.
Read the full interview with Morgan Mitchell in the May issue of Women’s Health Australia. Subscribe so that you never miss an issue.
