I remember when I went to the English Schools' and we were sharing four a room. One of the girls I shared with was in the junior race (our of junior, inter, senior). It wasn't junior as in under-20, junior was school years 8 and 9 if I remember rightly. She was 13. Anyway, she stood up all night staring out of the window, was crying in the night, she was predicted to finish in the top 3 and get selected for England (top 10 got selected). It was televised (on Sky) I think as well. It wasn't a local race, it was a championship and all of this added up to a lot of pressure. On the bus she seemed fine. From the outside you'd have thought she was fine, enjoying it, if not a bit of a quiet girl. But that weekend I saw the reality of what was going on and it was only bc I was randomly assigned to roomshare with her and her sister as well and saw what was going on away from other people, she obviously couldn't hide it all of the time. Her sister was used to it, it seemed, didn't really say much. But it was obvious how desperately unhappy she was.
She dropped out of the sport at 14.
One of the most talented runners I know, but I feel had she been kept away from that kind of competition until she was a bit older and more mature it would've been a different story. I know she loved running and she enjoyed local races. It was just all of that was too much pressure for her. So, when I hear of 9 or 11 year olds running major national championships or breaking world records it just reminds me of that a bit. I hope this Aussie girl is healthy and enjoying it, that's all.