Distin fine-tunes high jump run-up
After last season’s successes, Jamaican women’s high jump record holder Lamara Distin was expected to continue on an upward trajectory, possibly getting over the elusive 2.00m mark that separates the best from the rest.
And despite still trying to tie down technical aspects of her run-up, she believes it’s just a matter of time before she hits the target.
Distin, who won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in Birmingham, England, last year after making the final at the World Championships in Oregon, United States, a month earlier, lost her first NCAA event when she placed second in the outdoors championships in Austin, Texas, in June.
She attained the 1.97m qualifying height for the World Championships at an indoor meet in Clemson in February and is ranked number eight in the world.
The Texas A&M standout won her second national senior title on Thursday’s opening day of the Jamaica athletics championships and booked her spot to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August.
She told the Jamaica Observer she was experimenting with her run-up, and once she fixes that, everything should fall into place.
“The approach that I used to jump on Thursday was not the one I have been using all season. I’ve been using 10 steps all season, then I used eight, so I feel like I’m just trying something new to see what works best for me,” the 23-year-old jumper explained.
After a season’s best 1.95m — just under her life time best 1.97m outdoors — Distin thinks the 2.00m mark is within reach..
“My approach is the problem, so that’s what I’m trying to figure out. Is the 10 step going to work or not? So, I’m just around the place trying to figure out what’s gonna work best for me.
“But the 2.00m is definitely there, I just have to be patient and take my time and just continue to have faith in the Lord that [it] will happen,” Distin said, adding that a podium place in Budapest is not out of her range.
“I just need to go back to the drawing board trying to figure out my approach. As I said, that approach is a major issue that I’ve been having all this season. I just need to find out what I can do and do it,” the former Rusea’s High, Vere Technical and Hydel High Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association Championships gold medal winner reiterated.
