Aussie distance runner Lauren Ryan remembers vividly once being told she wasn't good enough.
But some eight years after being written off by a local coach, the 26-year-old from Melbourne is the fastest Australian woman in history in the 10,000m and on the verge of making her Olympic debut.
"It's a nice little reminder that that's where I was and that's how I was perceived, and now this is where I am and this is where I belong," she tells Wide World of Sports.
READ MORE: Aussie Olympian's silver lining in 'traumatic' struggle
READ MORE: Teen speed demon crowned Australian 100m champion
READ MORE: 'Kid wonder' fires unlikely Rebels into top four
Ryan will line up in the women's 5000m at the Australian Track and Field Championships on Sunday afternoon, aiming to become a two-time national champion in a race featuring Jessica Hull, Genevieve Gregson, Izzi Batt-Doyle, Leanne Pompeani and a bunch of other top distance runners.
In Year 12 at Geelong Grammar School, Ryan remarked that it was her goal to race over 1500m and 3000m at the World Athletics U20 Championships, taking place in Poland in August 2016. She hadn't ever represented Australia, but believed she was capable of scoring her first green and gold tracksuit.
One person thought her goal was fanciful, and didn't hesitate to give the 18-year-old schoolgirl their honest opinion.
"I think my coach also knew that it was going to be a big ask, but at the end of the day, I feel like if you have an athlete that's willing to put the work down you're going to turn a blind eye and go with their dream," Ryan says.
"You don't want to shut an athlete down at a young age.
"I feel like it didn't really affect me in the moment. I kind of brushed it off and was like, 'I'm young, this is my goal and that's all that matters'."
Ryan proved her doubter wrong in Year 12, snaring a spot on the Australian team for both the 1500m and 3000m in a year marked with huge personal bests. She flew to the Polish city of Bydgoszcz and took on the world.
"I was so new to the sport, having not done Little Athletics, that I felt like I had so much room to improve," she recalls.
"Whether I was doing new workouts or doing longer runs, the room to improve was just so big."
Ryan's career has exploded in the past 12 months.
The US-based athlete won her first senior Australian title at Melbourne's Zatopek:10 in December, overcoming NSW duo Holly Campbell and Rose Davies in an enthralling 10,000m battle. She dedicated the win to her ill grandma.
At an indoor meet in Seattle in February, the Baltimore-based runner broke the 15-minute 5000m barrier for the first time, clocking 14:57.67.
And in the Californian city of San Juan Capistrano in March, she broke the Australian 10,000m record that Benita Willis had held for 20 years. She stopped the clock at 30:35:66, smashing her personal best by 94 seconds and ducking under the Paris 2024 qualifying time.
She's hoping to compete in the 5000m and 10,000m as she makes her Olympic debut in Paris.
"I feel like the biggest achievement was running the Olympic standard and running the Australian record," says Ryan, who speaks with a strong American accent.
"My boyfriend just showed me — I had my goals written in our hallway back in America and he was like, 'You achieved that'. My goal for the 10,000m was 31:50. So I put my goal down to break 32 minutes and I had all my focus [for the Olympics] on the 5000m. How that goal has completely changed is crazy. I completely brushed past what I had planned and gone like a minute and a half quicker. It's just crazy to me."
Aussie distance runner Lauren Ryan remembers vividly once being told she wasn't good enough.
But some eight years after being written off by a local coach, the 26-year-old from Melbourne is the fastest Australian woman in history in the 10,000m and on the verge of making her Olympic debut.
"It's a nice little reminder that that's where I was and that's how I was perceived, and now this is where I am and this is where I belong," she tells Wide World of Sports.
READ MORE: Aussie Olympian's silver lining in 'traumatic' struggle
READ MORE: Teen speed demon crowned Australian 100m champion
READ MORE: 'Kid wonder' fires unlikely Rebels into top four
Ryan will line up in the women's 5000m at the Australian Track and Field Championships on Sunday afternoon, aiming to become a two-time national champion in a race featuring Jessica Hull, Genevieve Gregson, Izzi Batt-Doyle, Leanne Pompeani and a bunch of other top distance runners.
In Year 12 at Geelong Grammar School, Ryan remarked that it was her goal to race over 1500m and 3000m at the World Athletics U20 Championships, taking place in Poland in August 2016. She hadn't ever represented Australia, but believed she was capable of scoring her first green and gold tracksuit.
One person thought her goal was fanciful, and didn't hesitate to give the 18-year-old schoolgirl their honest opinion.
"I think my coach also knew that it was going to be a big ask, but at the end of the day, I feel like if you have an athlete that's willing to put the work down you're going to turn a blind eye and go with their dream," Ryan says.
"You don't want to shut an athlete down at a young age.
"I feel like it didn't really affect me in the moment. I kind of brushed it off and was like, 'I'm young, this is my goal and that's all that matters'."
Ryan proved her doubter wrong in Year 12, snaring a spot on the Australian team for both the 1500m and 3000m in a year marked with huge personal bests. She flew to the Polish city of Bydgoszcz and took on the world.
"I was so new to the sport, having not done Little Athletics, that I felt like I had so much room to improve," she recalls.
"Whether I was doing new workouts or doing longer runs, the room to improve was just so big."
Ryan's career has exploded in the past 12 months.
The US-based athlete won her first senior Australian title at Melbourne's Zatopek:10 in December, overcoming NSW duo Holly Campbell and Rose Davies in an enthralling 10,000m battle. She dedicated the win to her ill grandma.
At an indoor meet in Seattle in February, the Baltimore-based runner broke the 15-minute 5000m barrier for the first time, clocking 14:57.67.
And in the Californian city of San Juan Capistrano in March, she broke the Australian 10,000m record that Benita Willis had held for 20 years. She stopped the clock at 30:35:66, smashing her personal best by 94 seconds and ducking under the Paris 2024 qualifying time.
She's hoping to compete in the 5000m and 10,000m as she makes her Olympic debut in Paris.
"I feel like the biggest achievement was running the Olympic standard and running the Australian record," says Ryan, who speaks with a strong American accent.
"My boyfriend just showed me — I had my goals written in our hallway back in America and he was like, 'You achieved that'. My goal for the 10,000m was 31:50. So I put my goal down to break 32 minutes and I had all my focus [for the Olympics] on the 5000m. How that goal has completely changed is crazy. I completely brushed past what I had planned and gone like a minute and a half quicker. It's just crazy to me."
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