AN OLYMPIC and now world finalist, Morgan Lake will no longer accept just making the global showdown, she wants to be challenging for medals.

The high jump athlete finished sixth in the World Championships in front of a packed London Stadium on Saturday night.

Lake cleared 1.95m with just a single failure along the way, before bowing out at 1.97m, which would have been a new personal best for the 20-year-old.

A World Junior champion in both the high jump and heptathlon in 2014, Lake has taken 2017 to focus on her jumping following a final appearance in Rio 12 months ago.

It appears to be paying off, with the move to Loughborough University to be coached by Fuzz Caan installing a newfound sense of belief.

“Now I just need to carry on how I’m going. I came 10th last year in Rio and sixth this year. If I just keep pushing on, keep doing as I’m doing, then hopefully it works well,” said the Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow [WSEH] Athletics Club star.

“Moving to Loughborough has helped my confidence, it’s absolutely amazing working up there. Fuzz has coached Robbie [Grabarz] to an Olympic medal, knows the environment well and worked me through it.

“I definitely feel like I’ve taken a big step forward. Last year I was absolutely ecstatic to make the final, whereas this year it’s kind of bittersweet and it shows how much I’ve moved on.

Slough Observer:

PHOTO: Morgan Lake cleared 1.95m in the London Stadium on Saturday, two centimetres short of a personal best.

“I am in an environment where I’m hopefully challenging for medals in years to come.”

Elsewhere on Saturday, fellow WSEH athlete Ashley Bryant put in a 1,500m personal best to take 11th place in the decathlon.

After two gruelling days of competition, Bryant, 26, put on a show for the roaring home support and clocked 4:27.15 to finish third in the final race of the contest, and rack up a final points tally of 8049.

“The energy which the crowd brought to my performances was incredible,” he said. "There were a few moments, once in the high jump and even in the discus, when I got goosebumps.

“It has been quite up and down, a few solid events and season’s bests, but my performance didn’t sparkle like I hoped it would.

“My averages have gone up so much, so there's lots to be proud of, and I can’t be too angry with the result.

“I was competitive against a lot of the guys who I’ve been competing against for years, and head-to-heads are sometimes more important than scores.

“I would love to have had the big score. It didn’t happen this time but it’s coming.”

You can help the next generation of young British athletes by getting involved in SportsAid Week this September with London 2012 hero Greg Rutherford MBE. Find out more about how you can support the week of fun and fundraising by visiting www.sportsaid.org.uk/sportsaidweek