After breaking the nine-year-old Girls Class One high jump record with a leap of 1.86 metres at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championship at the National Stadium, Manchester High’s Chanice Porter was expected to go after the National Junior Record 1.88m set by Kimberly Williamson, the athlete she defeated yesterday.

Instead, the 18-year-old Porter who won Jamaica’s first global long jump gold medal at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Lille, France last year and whose previous personal best was 1.85m set at Champs last year, decided to take the gold and run.

Porter, who also won a bronze in the high jump in France, told the Jamaica Observer she was saving her legs for today’s long jump finals where she will start with a god chance of winning another gold.

“I am just a bit tired and I need to save my legs for the long jump,” she said minutes after indicating she was done with the high jump competition.

While not saying it, she might have also wanted less wear and tear on her limbs after battling a quad injury for the last two years and which kept her out of action most of the early season.

Porter, who was recognised by the organisers of the Milo Western Relays by naming her the Outstanding Junior Female athlete of last season, had to sit and watch the early season competition, opening her season just two weeks ago at Central Championships where she won the long jump, but finished behind Williamson.

Minutes after setting the record yesterday, she admitted she was “surprised” given she had not reached 1.80m all season.

Porter, who competed with a bright pink bandage on her right quad, said while she felt “much better” the injury was not 100 per cent healed.

By June when the National Junior Trials comes around she says she should be back to full fitness by which time she says she hopes she can go after the national record.