This video features Asha Phillip, a world junior champion athlete, sharing her journey of recovery and resilience after a severe injury. She emphasizes the importance of mental toughness, focus, and balance in achieving success, not just in athletics, but in life.

"Some people say you have to be broken to be fixed again. My name is Asha Phillip, and I run. Athletics for me was just a bit of fun. It was something different and something new. Trampolining was my main sport, and I loved it. Then, I fell into double mini trampolining, and I became a world junior champion that year. I was at the World Championships in Quebec. I bounced up, but when I came down, I didn't land right. I could just hear the crunch. I could see my leg pointing in a different direction. I remember grabbing my leg and screaming. There was nothing holding my legs together. In a heartbeat, everything was just gone. Everything I worked hard for had vanished. Everyone told me I was a write-off. So, how does a child of age 17 get back up? It felt like I'd lost something. I'd lost a part of me. I wanted to give up. And when you're at that point of just giving up, that's when you're meant to really turn your life around and change. It was my mum who believed in me, and for that, I believed in her. I really do question how I made it out. It was little by little, coming in to do the rehab. Step by step, you started to see improvement. The crutches went away, then I could walk. I was able to jog, and then run. But then, I had loads of injuries along the way. The only thing standing between success and failure is mental toughness. It's about being resilient. Being an athlete isn't like a normal job. The gym, strengthening, the mind work, the fitness for one shot. For 11 seconds. There are a lot of knockbacks. A lot. It's how you handle it. But it's also the most amazing release. I let out all my stresses, all my bad energy. Every time I show up to train, I have the opportunity to learn more about myself and how to run correctly. Some people train brilliantly but in a race, they don't win. You need focus. You're in an arena of thousands of people. Then you're on the start line with seven other women. Then you have a man holding a gun, and you have to learn to channel all this. Not panic. But there's so much going on. You've got your family in the crowd. Everyone's screaming, wanting you to do well. They're screaming for the girls alongside you. How do you put that all aside and say, 'OK, I have to focus on myself. Focus on my lane. Focus on me. Focus on me.' There are sacrifices. There are lots of ways to have fun. Go after your goals and balance it out the right way. In the end, it's about knowing what's important to you and what makes you thrive. That's not just athletics. That's life."