Emerging athlete Tayissa Buchanan upbeat despite sudden end to season

The middle-distance star had spent the summer preparing for the competition set to commence Saturday, only for the event to be called off due to COVID-19.

Buchanan said while it was disappointing not to have the opportunity to compete, she understands why the event was cancelled.

"It's pretty disappointing, we did a lot of training to prepare for it," Buchanan said.

"But it's something we can't control, we have to take into account the officials. I'll just move on and focus on next season."

The cancellation of Nationals came as last weekend's NSW Little Athletics Championships were also called off, an event Buchanan was due to compete in.

The sudden end to the track season concludes a stunning few months for the runner.

The 14-year-old started the summer with a gold medal at the Australian All Schools Championships last December, before she took out the under 15 girls 800 metres at the NSW Junior Championships last month.

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Buchanan also finished fourth in the 400m, where she ran a big personal best and she's able to look back fondly on the season.

"It was definitely a very good season. Nationals and Little Athletics State might have been cancelled, but I did really well at Junior State and it was my first time going to All Schools Nationals.

"To win gold there meant a lot, I was really happy about that. I surprised myself, running a six second PB."

Now Buchanan will turn her focus to the upcoming cross country season, though that too remains under threat.

"I'm definitely going to do some cross country. I'm looking forward to getting some cross country training in and getting my fitness up.

"School cross country was meant to be Tuesday and that was also cancelled.

"I'll have to keep training and wait for when they reschedule it. Once cross country is done, I'll be back into track season for next year."

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