Morgan shatters own Ja discus record
Jamaica’s Jason Morgan set a new National Record on Saturday when he improved on his personal best and previous National Record in the discus throw with a 64.11m effort at the Peak Performance Classic at Brown Stadium at the University of Louisiana in Monroe, Louisiana.
After consistently throwing over 60m this year, the 28-year-old former Calabar High and Louisiana Tech student, finally broke his own four year-old record at the United State of America Track and Field (USATF) certified summer meet, and in the process achieve the B Standard for this year’s IAAF World Championships to be held in Daegu, South Korea.
The B standard for the World Championships is 63.00m and the A Standard two metres further.
The previous national record 62.95m was set at another meet in Monroe on April 28, 2007 and Morgan was thankful in a telephone interview with the Observer minutes after the completion of the event.
“First I must say thanks to God; this means so much to me, words cant express,” he said.
Morgan, who had a season-best 62.01m in Lafayette, Louisiana on March 19, said the competition was good and conditions were also good for throwing far.
“I knew something big was coming,” he said, but added that the record throw came at the end of a forgettable series.
After four throws all under 60m, he said he had a big foul, but slowed down for the final attempt, which he nailed.
The ebullient Morgan, who withdrew from the Commonwealth Games team to India last year after winning the National Championships, said he was pleased with the results of his hard work and sacrifice.
“The hard work is paying off, I feel blessed,” he noted.
With the National Trials set for late June, Morgan who has competed in nine meets already this season, says his sights are set on throwing even further.