Donald Thomas (BAH) - an elated winner of the men's High Jump (© Getty Images)
Following an ankle injury which cut his indoor season short, World High Jump champion Donald Thomas returned to competition at last Sunday's Prefontaine Classic.
"Sure, I’m happy to be back jumping and competing, but I’m still a little disappointed.
"I got third place in the Prefontaine Meet last Sunday out in Eugene (Oregon) and cleared 2.25, which is pretty good, but I know I can do a whole lot better.
"Considering, though, that I hadn’t jumped since getting hurt in the indoor season back in February, and that my left ankle still isn’t 100 percent, I still have a little swelling there, I guess it was okay.
"Actually, I never really felt in the groove. I had the bounce but I had problems with my approach. And my timing was off.
"Probably because it was a big TV meet, they rushed it along way too much.
"Usually, they raise the bar in increments of three centimetres, sometimes two centimetres, but out in Oregon they raised it five centimetres at a time. The competition went by too quickly, way too quickly. I never really got into my rhythm.
"That certainly wasn’t in the best interests of a guy like me, who hadn’t been in an actual meet since February. I hadn’t actually jumped over a bar in all that time, either. Just jumped over a bungee (cord) and some hurdles.
"After working with my physio, I only had about 15 minutes beforehand to get my steps in and work out my approach. That was hardly enough.
"I came in at 2.15 and had a lot of trouble there. Missed twice before clearing. I was coming in too close to the bar.
"At 2.20, my coach, Jerry Clayton, told me I had to start a little further back. So I played with my steps and it worked. I cleared first time.
"Then the bar went up to 2.25 and I cleared on my second jump. Again, I made a few adjustments that worked out. Coach (Clayton) told me I’d been over striding and slowing down my last two strides. He told me I had to run the curve a lot better and a lot faster.
"I did and I cleared. Everything felt quite normal to me; it’s funny, the higher the bar goes, the more confident I am. I think I can clear any height, any time. I guess you have to be like that if you’re going to be any good in the high jump.
"But 2.30 didn’t work out for me. My first two attempts were pretty good; guess I just brushed the bar off. But the third wasn’t close at all. And that was it for me.
"I don’t really like watching what other jumpers do, so I just stepped away from the area."
(Note: Russia’s Andrey Silnov went on to win it on a jump-off over USA’s Tora Harris. Both cleared 2.30 and stayed tied. Both missed three times at 2.35; the bar was lowered to 2.33 and they missed again. Finally, Silnov cleared 2.31 for the victory while Harris missed to take second at 2.30, with Thomas’s 2.25 gaining third.)
"Oh, and this was the first time I’d ever jumped with real high jump shoes. Through Osaka (his 2007 World Championships victory at 2.35) and into the 2008 indoor season, I’d been using pole vault shoes. That may have led to my (ankle) injury.
"Now, Nike has made me some personal high jump spikes and they’re a big help, a huge help, probably. They have my name on them and everything. I’m the only guy that has them!
"I feel much more secure now, there’s no slipping. And they feel much more comfortable. The Nike people have been great to me, a real help.
"Now I’m off to Hungary for a meet there, then I come home (to his Auburn, Alabama, USA residence) and then I go to the Bahamas Nationals and Olympic Trials, July 27 and 28.
"They have a pretty nice stadium down there in Nassau, and I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of support from my family, my friends, and all my home fans.
"Bahamas has some good juniors coming up in the high jump now; maybe what I did, winning the Worlds, has been inspiring them. If I can win the Worlds, they’ll start thinking they can, too.
"After our Trials, I may go back to Europe for a few meets, just to see where I am. Then it’s on to Beijing. I think I jump August 17 in the Olympics, but I’m not 100 percent sure about that.
"Whatever the exact date, you know I’ll be there. And I’ll be ready."
Donald
