Mark Boswell celebrates after his World High Jump silver medal in Seville (© Getty Images)
We’ve all heard the premise “you are never too old to learn!” It’s something 25- year-old Canadian high jumper Mark Boswell can heartily attest to, especially after his season opening victory in the Verizon Millrose Games on Friday night.
His 2.31m performance in the New York meeting - which currently makes him the sixth best jumper in the world this season - upset the plans of American veteran Charles Austin, the 1991 World & 1996 Olympic champion. More importantly it erased any doubts that the Canadian’s recent hamstring injury problem was going to cause him to skip the indoor campaign. Boswell in fact picked up where he left off last September.
“Last year was my best year of competition,” Boswell said this week, “I was more steady at higher heights and more consistent. Part of that was because I was injury free but I also realised that (previously) I was jumping a lot before I would travel and then when I would get over to Europe I would be really tired.”
Adjusting his workload prior to travelling resulted in Boswell equalling his own Canadian national record of 2.35m with a victory in last year’s Rome Golden Gala, and contesting an extraordinary series of eight European meetings in which he went 2.30m or higher. He also won the Commonwealth title in July and finished second in September’s IAAF World Cup in Madrid. More importantly he faced all the athletes he will encounter in the World Championships in Birmingham and Paris this year.
After winning the silver medal at the 1999 World Championships in Seville much was expected of him in Edmonton two years later. But a combination of injuries, nerves and a lack of confidence plagued him at Commonwealth Stadium. He wound up 7th with a paltry 2.25m performance.
Friendly and outgoing, Boswell is popular among his peers and it is clear he enjoys their respect. And in a country which is presently devoid of world class athletes, at the age of 25 he is seen as a team leader, its most experienced member. But he was faced with a monumental decision last year when he had to choose between completing his eligibility for the University of Texas and a career in the sport. With a five year old daughter, Jenae to support, he chose to follow the financial path. For now his degree in sports management remains on hold, probably until after the 2004 Olympics.
Jenae and her mother live with Boswell in Round Rock, Texas, a small town outside Austin the state capital. With the money he has earned from Grand Prix competitions and a modest sponsorship agreement with Nike he bought a house there recently.
“There are no distractions here, not like back home,” he relates. “It’s a laid back community so it’s home to track and that’s about it. My coach (University of Texas) Dan Pfaff also lives in Round Rock. My daughter, Jenae, is going to school down here so it feels like home.”
“I tore my hamstring two weeks ago and went back to Toronto for some therapy. I jumped this week and it felt fine so I went to Millrose on Friday just to see how well it went,” he reveals.
“I would like to do well in Birmingham. It’s my second World Indoor Championships and I would like to do a lot better than I did last time - I think Kwaku (Boateng) and I were 11th and 12th (in Lisbon) - Maybe even get the Canadian record (which he holds at 2.33m).”
The year’s principal target remains the outdoor Worlds in Paris where Boswell knows he will face a strong but wide open field. And clearly he will not be lacking in confidence when he turns up.
Paul Gains for the IAAF
