Whittni Morgan’s remarkable Olympic journey just came to an end. Here’s what happened

Editor’s note : This story has been updated to reflect Kenyan runner Faith Kipyegon’s reinstatement after her initial disqualification. Kipyegon’s reinstatement moved Whittni Morgan to 14th place.

Whittni Morgan has much to celebrate about her Olympic journey, even though she’s going home without a medal.

She finished in 14th place during Monday’s highly competitive 5,000-meter final, with a time of 14:53.57.

That’s about nine seconds faster than she ran in the first round .

Morgan was near the back of the pack for much of the race, but gradually built a notable lead over two other runners.

Morgan still has a lot to celebrate about her performance at the Olympics, since her participation in the Games was far from guaranteed.

A knee surgery in November disrupted her training, and at June’s U.S. Olympic track and field trials, she finished in fifth, two spots away from the Olympic team.

Morgan was able to join Team USA after two of the women who finished ahead of her in June decided to drop out of the 5,000-meter race to focus on other events, as the Deseret News previously reported.

In an Instagram post about her unexpected chance to run at the Olympics, Morgan thanked God for the opportunity.

“I didn’t become an Olympian the traditional way, but God paved a way for me to be an Olympian today. I am humbled that God would give me this opportunity, & he sees that I can do something with this gift he has given me to represent him as well as team USA,” she wrote.

The other American competitors in Monday’s final, Karissa Schweizer and Elise Cranny, finished in 10th and 11th place, respectively.

Cranny stuck with the pack of leaders for much of the first half of the race before falling off during the final few laps.

Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet won gold with a time of 14:28.56.

The second-place finisher, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, was initially disqualified due to her involvement in a brief midrace scuffle. But that decision was overturned after an appeal.

Sifan Hasson from Netherlands got the bronze medal.