A top-25 finish on a senior World Championships debut is remarkable for any athlete, not least a teenager.
But when Glenda Morejon crossed the line in 25th place in the women&rsquo;s 20km race walk at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, she felt nothing but disappointment and frustration.
Just three months earlier, Morejon had stunned the race walking world with her 1:25:29 victory in La Coruna. Not only was her time the fastest ever performance by an U20 athlete and good enough for 13th place on the senior world all-time list, but she defeated a high-quality field in what proved to be one of the greatest depth races in history.
Not bad for a debut performance at 20km.
China&rsquo;s Yang Jiayu, the world champion at the time, finished five seconds adrift of the Ecuadorian teenager. Liu Hong, the Olympic and multiple world champion, was a distant third while many of the world&rsquo;s best race walkers were even further back.
One month later, and back competing within her age group, Morejon enjoyed a dominant victory over 10,000m at the Pan-American U20 Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica. It maintained her 2019 winning streak and she had every right to feel confident heading to Doha.
Her race along the Corniche started well and Morejon was prominent in the lead pack for the first 10 kilometres. But in testing conditions, Morejon faded during the second half and eventually finished 25th, seven placed behind training partner Karla Jaramillo and one place behind Turkey&rsquo;s Meryem Bekmez, one of Morejon&rsquo;s toughest rivals at recent age-group championships. 
<div id="5e15c379ea9efe0eb0c296f1" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/d0982745-4a4a-4a6c-94f5-59e78ba97ec1.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Glenda Morejon in the 20km race walk at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was disappointed with my performance in Doha because I didn't reach my target of walking as fast as I wanted to,&rdquo; says Morejon, who was among the nominees for the Rising Star Award at the recent World Athletics Awards.
&ldquo;But it's part of sport and it's a learning experience and a stepping stone. I have to remind myself that I'm only 19 years old and I have a long career ahead of me, so this is all part of gaining experience.
&ldquo;To be honest with you, I didn&rsquo;t expect to be nominated (for the Rising Star Award),&rdquo; she adds. &ldquo;In fact after Doha I didn't think anyone would take notice of me. When the nominees came out a few weeks later, I was really surprised to see my name on the list. It gives me huge motivation and inspiration to do better next year.&rdquo;
<h3>From humble beginnings to global champion</h3>
Born in Ibarra, a city in the north of Ecuador, Morejon doesn&rsquo;t come from a particularly sporty family.
Her mother, Maria, sells fruit at a local market while her father, Luis, has been dedicated to rearing his three children. Morejon started out as a distance runner before her race-walking ability was identified at the age of 13, but her parents struggled to afford training gear.
Coached by Giovanni Delgado at the Tarquino Jaramillo Athletics School, Morejon did most of her sessions on a dirt track. Often she wouldn&rsquo;t wear shoes. The one pair of racing shoes she did have were patched up and in desperate need of repair. 
<div id="596a081c48757c0bd0bba424" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/25303b5b-e9e2-4edb-90aa-35491892b9be.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Glenda Morejon leads the girls' 5000m race walk at the IAAF World U18 Championships Nairobi 2017</div>
&nbsp;
Despite this, the early signs were promising. In 2016, at the age of 15, she finished second in the U17 race at the National Race Walking Championships. Little more than a year later, she won gold at the World U18 Championships in Nairobi.
In the closest ever finish to a race walking event at a World U18 Championships, Morejon crossed the line just 0.49 ahead of Bekmez to win in 22:32.30, becoming just the second Ecuadorian athlete to win gold at the World U18 Championships.
Given her difficulties with shoes during her formative years, Morejon's achievement was also reminiscent of Ecuadorian race walking legend Jefferson Perez, who took gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics while wearing a pair of torn shoes.
&ldquo;Winning gold was very emotional,&rdquo; Morejon said at the time. &ldquo;I knew my parents were watching me from home and I thank them for their support.&rdquo;
<h3>Big move</h3>
For the rest of 2017 and 2018, Morejon achieved podium finishes in all of her races. She finished second at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Taicang and third at the World U20 Championships in Tampere. 
<div id="5aee7ac091ac8b12c492e0f9" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/217f4729-f9a3-472a-aea5-c726d9a85a4c.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Glenda Morejon and Nanako Fujii in the U20 women's 10km at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships</div>
&nbsp;
Her streak of top-three finishes came to an end in Doha. She knew that if she were to take on the world&rsquo;s best in future, then she would benefit from learning from them.
In October 2019 Morejon moved 600km south to Cuenca to be coached by South American 50km record-holder Andres Chocho. She now trains alongside Brazil&rsquo;s Erica De Sena, Chocho&rsquo;s wife, who finished fourth in the 20km in Doha and London, and Ecuador&rsquo;s Paola Perez, who finished ninth in the 50km in Doha.
Supported by the Ecuadorian Athletics Federation's high performance project and training on the Jefferson Perez track, Morejon is already benefitting from her new training set-up. At the end of 2019 the group completed a heat adaptation training exercise in Guayaquil where temperatures reached 33C, similar to the expected conditions in Sapporo where the road events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will take place.
Looking back on her achievements in 2019 and ahead to the challenges of 2020, Morejon is optimistic. 
<div id="5dd981c7d11a670210d25023" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/0119742e-52bd-40fc-aaf9-038f557cb861.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Ecuadorian race walker Glenda Morejon</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;The thing I'm most proud of in 2019 is my debut at 20km in La Coruna,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;It was my first 20km and I hit the Olympic standard so I was really, really pleased with my performance and I'm looking forward to doing more 20km races.
&ldquo;In that race I also defeated Liu Hong (who went on to win in Doha) and other Chinese athletes. I consider them as the power houses in this event, so the fact I beat them in La Coruna &ndash; despite what happened in Doha &ndash; gives me a lot of motivation and confidence.
&ldquo;It shows me that I can do this and reach my goals, and I hope that in future competitions things will go in my favour.&rdquo;
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

A top-25 finish on a senior World Championships debut is remarkable for any athlete, not least a teenager.

Following disappointment in Doha, Morejon keen to make amends in 2020

Ecuador&rsquo;s Glenda Morejon made a major breakthrough on Saturday (8) by taking a surprise victory at the Gran Premio Cantones de Marcha, the Spanish leg of the 2019 IAAF Race Walking Challenge.
On a cloudy afternoon that was ideal for endurance events, with an absence of wind and the thermometer reading about 14C, the 19-year-old world U20 bronze medallist produced the fastest ever 20km debut as she clocked a stunning 1:25:29. Her time is not only a world U20 best, it is also a senior South American record and a world-leading performance.
In the men&rsquo;s race, Japan&rsquo;s Toshikazu Yamanishi showed his recent Asian Championships victory wasn&rsquo;t a fluke as he won in 1:17:41.
<h3>Teenager Morejon beats race walking stars</h3>
The women&rsquo;s race had been billed as a thrilling encounter between the top Chinese race walkers, but instead it witnessed the rise of a new race walking race ace in the form of Glenda Morejon who startled the assembled crowd with a world-class performance.
Right from the start, the Chinese quartet of world record-holder Liu Hong, 2012 Olympic silver medallist Qieyang Shenjie, world champion Yang Jiayu and Asian champion Ma Zhenxia took the lead and was joined in the opening kilometres by Japan&rsquo;s Kumiko Okada, Brazil&rsquo;s Erica de Sena and the diminutive Morejon.
First De Sena and then Okada lost ground but surprisingly Morejon managed to follow the rhythm of the Chinese women. The halfway point was reached by the lead quartet in 42:55 &ndash; faster than Morejon&rsquo;s 10km PB of 43:04 &ndash; close to the schedule for a world-leading time.
The 4:16/4:18-per-kilometre pace proved too fast for defending champion Qieyang and Ma and they started to fade shortly before the 14km point. The race became a three-woman contest between Liu, Yang and Morejon.
Surprisingly, given it was her debut at the distance, it was the Ecuadorian who ruled the race during the latter stages. In the final kilometre she sped away from her top-class opponents with impressive ease, crossing the line in 1:25:29 to finish five seconds ahead of Yang, who was rewarded with a lifetime best. Liu finished third in 1:25:56, equalling the third-best time of her distinguished career.
It was the first international 20km race in which three women have finished inside 1:26. Outside of championship races, it was also the first time 10 women have finished inside 1:29.
&ldquo;This is wonderful,&rdquo; said the 2017 world U18 champion. &ldquo;I was making my debut (at 20km) and managed to win against a world-class field, I can&rsquo;t believe it.
&ldquo;I have been working very hard over the past months thinking of this event and all that hard work has paid off. My dream in athletics is to go to the Tokyo Olympics. Once there, I would like to win a medal for my country. I&rsquo;d like to thank all my team and family, especially my coach, Giovan Delgado.&rdquo;
<h3>Yamanishi rules</h3>
The men&rsquo;s competition kicked off at a frantic pace, well inside the 4:00 per kilometre. The first 5km was covered in 19:33 by a five-unit group comprising Japan&rsquo;s world record-holder Yusuke Szuki, Spain&rsquo;s European champion &Aacute;lvaro Mart&iacute;n, Britain&rsquo;s Tom Bosworth, Italy&rsquo;s Massimo Stano and China&rsquo;s Wang Kaihua, who was making the most of the early pace.
Some of the other big contenders &ndash; including Japan&rsquo;s world leader Toshikazu Yamanishi, Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom and Spain&rsquo;s Diego Garc&iacute;a &ndash; were in a chase pack but were also inside 1:19 schedule. 
<div id="5c8da3dc122af30b58a1ea76" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/84761997-b911-4900-bcf5-04d5e73a89d6.png');">&nbsp;</div>
Japanese race walker Toshikazu Yamanishi</div>
&nbsp;
By the seventh kilometre, Suzuki moved to the front and began to increase the tempo even more. Only Wang, Stano and Mart&iacute;n could live with his pace. The quartet went through the half-way point in 38:44 while the European contingent of Karlstrom, Vasily Mizinov and Germany&rsquo;s Cristopher Linke were a further 100 metres behind.
By 15km, reached in 58:07, Suzuki had opened up a gap on Yamanishi and the surprise Stano, holder of a career best of 1:20:51, while Mart&iacute;n and Wang began to lose ground and lost any chance of a podium spot.
Suzuki&rsquo;s lead was short lived, though, as he was overtaken by Yamanishi with about 2.6 kilometres left. Yamanishi crossed the line in 1:17:41, while Stano &ndash; the bronze medallist at the 2018 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships &ndash; overtook Suzuki to finish second in an Italian record of 1:17:45, taking three minutes off his previous best. Suzuki finished third in 1:17:54, his fastest time outside of Japan.
Karlstrom finished strongly to place fourth in 1:18:07, taking more than a minute off his own Swedish record. In sixth, Linke equalled the German record of 1:18:42, while Bonfim broke his own Brazilian record with 1:18:47 in seventh place.
As was the case with the women&rsquo;s race, the men&rsquo;s contest had fantastic depth. It was just the second time in history that eight men had finished inside 1:19 in a 20km race walk.
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF
<h3>Leading results</h3>
Men 1 Toshikazu Yamanashi (JPN) 1:17:41 2 Massimo Stano (ITA) 1:17:45 3 Yusuke Suzuki (JPN) 1:17:54 4 Perseus Karlstrom (SWE) 1:18:07 5 Vasiliy Mizinov (ANA) 1:18:41 6 Christopher Linke (GER) 1:18:42 7 Caio Bonfim (BRA) 1:18:47 8 Diego Garc&iacute;a (ESP) 1:18:58 9 Eiki Takashashi (JPN) 1:19:13 10 Jos&eacute; Alejandro Barrondo (GUA) 1:19:55
Women 1 Glenda Morejon (ECU) 1:25:29 2 Yang Jiayu (CHN) 1:25:34 3 Liu Hong (CHN) 1:25:56 4 Qieyang Shenjie (CHN) 1:27:05 5 Erica de Sena (BRA) 1:27:38 6 Kumiko Okada (JAP) 1:27:41 7 Ma Zhenxia (CHN) 1:28:00 8 Duan Dandan (CHN) 1:28:28 9 Laura Garc&iacute;a Caro (ESP) 1:28:40 10 Wang Yingliu (CHN) 1:28:47

Ecuador’s Glenda Morejon made a major breakthrough on Saturday (8) by taking a surprise victory at the Gran Premio Cantones de Marcha, the Spanish leg of the 2019 IAAF Race Walking Challenge.

Debutante Morejon sets world U20 best in La Coruña

Glenda Morejon became only the second Ecuadorian to win a world U18 title when she took the win in the girls' 5000m race walk on Saturday morning in Nairobi.
Morejon entered the competition as the fastest in the world, but with her lack of international experience, there might have been doubt as to whether she was the favourite. But her sensible tactical performance took her to a historic win in a time of 22:32.30.
It was a close call, however, as the race was not decided until the final few metres. Meryem Bekmez of Turkey finished half a stride behind in 22:32.79 in what was the closest race walk finish in World U18 Championships history. Both gold and silver medallists won the first ever medals for their countries at any global championship in female race walking events.
The bronze went to Elvira Khasanova, competing as neutral athlete. Khasanova was not far behind the top two, either, finishing in 22:35.72.
Kenya's Lenah Nanjala shot into the lead before the race walkers completed their first lap, but was soon caught by the pack. Nobody was willing to make an early move after that, and the leading group, featuring all the main favourites, continued at a steady pace. One kilometre was reached in 4:35.76 and two kilometres in 9:17.81, with more than a dozen athletes still together at that point.
China&rsquo;s Zhang Xiaole was the first to inject more pace into the proceedings during the third kilometre, the result being the shrinking of the leading group to just five race walkers. Morejon assumed the pacing duties before the three-kilometre mark was reached, leading the small pack including Zhang, Bekmez and the two neutral athletes: Khasanova and Ekaterina Gorshenina.
The pace got progressively faster. After a third kilometre of 4:35, the fourth took just 4:24. First Gorshenina, then Zhang began to lose contact with the leaders. With three girls now comfortably ahead in the medal positions, only the order of the top three was still in doubt.
The race went down to the wire. The three leaders were still together half a lap before the finish line. Khasanova was the first to let go on the curve. Morejon and Bekmez entered the home straight neck and neck, and it remained that way for the majority of the final 100 metres. It was only in the final 10 metres that Morejon finally pulled away slightly, crossing the line in 22:32.30, with the final kilometre taking just 4:15.
Bekmez followed just 0.49 seconds later, and Khasanova was only 3.42 in arrears.
What made Khasanova's medal all the more impressive is that she only switched to race walking last year, having previously been a shooter.
The race for fourth almost ended in a photo-finish. As Zhang started to fade, Gorshenina nearly caught her, but in the end had to be content with fifth place in 23:05.77, just 0.16 behind the Chinese athlete.
Pawel Jackowski for the IAAF

Glenda Morejon became only the second Ecuadorian to win a world U18 title when she took the win in the girls' 5000m race walk on Saturday morning in Nairobi.

Following disappointment in Doha, Morejon keen to make amends in 2020

Debutante Morejon sets world U20 best in La Coruña

Report: girls' 5000m race walk – IAAF World U18 Championships Nairobi 2017