ALTHOUGH winning a global medal immediately after his departure from the MVP Track and Field Club, Jamaica’s long jump star Tajay Gayle says he has no issue with former coach, Stephen Francis. In fact, he credits the role of Francis in him joining the camp of Kerry-Lee Ricketts.

Gayle reclaimed his status as one of the best jumpers in the world after winning silver in the men’s long jump at last month’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. His leap of 8.34 metres was his best mark since becoming world champion at the 2019 Doha Championships with an 8.69m effort.

It’s the 29-year-old’s first title since joining the St Elizabeth-based Ricketts Performance Club at the end of 2024. He had previously been attached to the Francis-led MVP Track and Field Club.

While conceding that he initially had reservations, Gayle believes his podium finish in Tokyo is proof that he made the right decision.

“I had something to prove because leaving [MVP], I was a bit nervous trying to figure out what life would be outside of [it] because, you know, I’m used to MVP,” he told the Sports Chambers podcast. “They basically take care of everything for you so now you’re in a world where you have to do everything yourself, but I’ve always been by myself since forever so that’s nothing new for me. So it was a challenge — and I like challenges.”

Gayle rose to prominence at MVP but struggled to regain his form of 2019 due to a number of injuries. He says Francis’s methods were no longer suitable for him to return to the highest level.

“I personally felt like MVP training was kind of getting too harsh for me and I tried to explain it to the coach that I was having, like, a recovery issue. At the time, I didn’t know the recovery issue but after I did my research I could realise it was a recovery issue, so I wasn’t recovering fast enough into the next programme,” Gayle said.

“My body wasn’t really adapting to the programme anymore, and I was trying to explain to my coach but we never really saw eye to eye so I guess we just call it quits.”

Gayle said the split was an amicable one and that there’s no bad blood between them.

“It was basically an agreement between me and [Francis] that it’s time for us to move on so it wasn’t really a bad, ‘I’m out, gone’ kind of business. Me and him kind of still cool,; we still talk when we see each other,” he said.

Gayle said he had thoughts of joining Uptimum Performance Club, led by Shanikie Osbourne, who guided Bryan Levell to bronze in the men’s 200m in Tokyo.

However, following Francis’s recommendation, he opted to join Ricketts, the coach and husband of Olympic and World Championships triple jump silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts.

“Initially, he was the one who suggested Coach Ricketts but I was thinking to myself, ‘Coach Ricketts is a long jump coach so I need speed as well.’ So I was thinking maybe I could go to Miss Osbourne for the speed and Coach Ricketts for the jumps , a double thing,” he said.

“But after I spoke to [Ricketts] on the phone he was, ‘No, man, I can do everything,’ I was like, ‘Okay, let’s do it,’ so I just made the move to St Elizabeth. Then I had to leave [Kingston] so I was like, ‘Okay, I can leave everything behind, be by myself.’ And it’s very peaceful, so I have more time to think and more time to focus on what I can do and improve on — and that’s what I did.”

Gayle said he is looking forward to more success in the Ricketts camp.

“It’s a very fun team to work with, very positive. Everyone is trying to make it. It’s not a club where everyone thinks they already made it, it’s a club where everyone’s trying to make it and a very positive vibe,” he said.

“It was very awesome because I like the peace and I’m not a fan of the drama, so I like the peace and I like the support that everyone gives so it was a very awesome experience. So, next year again,” Gayle said.

Stephen Francis, MVP Track Club head coach (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Kerry-Lee Ricketts, one of Jamaica’s premier horizontal jump coaches (Photo: Observer file)

Tajay Gayle of Jamaica displays the silver medal won in the men’s long jump competition during the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2025. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle competes in the men’s long jump during the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2025. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)