Emma Coburn at the press conference for the World Cross Country Championships (© Steve Christo)
Competing at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23 will be an emotional roller coaster for US steeplechase champion Emma Coburn who will be running to fulfil her mother’s dying wish.
Coburn lost her mother Annie to cancer just six weeks ago and she received the news she’d been selected to represent USA in the mixed relay in Bathurst while her mother was in hospice care.
“Before she passed, there were lots of conversations about her wishes for her children,” Coburn said. “Her wish for me was that I keep running. One of her favourite things in her life was my running.
“It was physically challenging to go through that loss but I ran every day during her hospice care and after her passing and tried to remember that she wanted me to be strong and to carry on.”
Knowing that she was flying to Australia to run for her country at a major championship for the ninth time gave Coburn a new lease of life as she dealt with her grief.
“I found out that I’d been invited to participate in this relay during the midst of all of that and I was immediately light and excited and hopeful,” she said. “Any time you get to represent your country at a world championship is really special.”
Colorado-based Coburn, 32, has previously only ever contested the steeplechase at major championships, winning the 2017 world title, the 2019 world silver medal and the 2016 Olympic bronze.
Doing a 2km cross country loop as part of a four-person team is a new and exciting challenge for the versatile runner, who’ll be supported in the mixed relay by US teammates Heather MacLean, a 2021 Tokyo Olympic 1500m semi-finalist, steeplechase expert Alec Basten, and 2019 mixed relay runner Jordan Mann.
Kenya, Ethiopia and Australia all have stronger teams on paper but the 30C+ degree heat will make the challenging Bathurst course even tougher.
But Coburn has added motivation – running to make her mum proud.
“I know that participating is a big first step and continuing on with my career without her physically here,” she said. “It will be a special day.”
Louise Evans for World Athletics
