Taylor lays out progression ambition

TOKYO, Japan:

Jamaican quarter-miler Christopher Taylor could hardly contain his excitement as he walked towards the Tokyo Olympic Stadium track ahead of a 400m final that he had envisioned – over and over again, particularly since making a promise to himself five years earlier.

Taylor would later walk off the track with a new personal best – 44.79 seconds – and a sixth-place finish in his first Olympic Games.

It was the realisation of a commitment made at the National Senior Championships in 2016, where Taylor, still a student at Calabar High School, still slightly injured, ran seventh against the seniors as part of his preparation for the World Under-20 Championships in Poland a few weeks later.

“In 2016 when I went to the Olympic Trials in Jamaica, I placed eight running out of Lane One because I was injured, a groin issue. From then, I put my mind to it and said the next Olympics, I’m going to go for it. I’m going to be in the final,“ Taylor told The Gleaner.

The final itself was won by Bahamian Steven Gardiner, who clocked 43.85 seconds, getting the better of Colombian Anthony Zambrano, 44.08,and Grenadian Kirani James, 44.19.

“So I set my goal from back then, but I got injured coming out of high school, but I left being motivated to come back from the injury. I told myself that I was going to do whatever I needed to do to get back to the level that I left high school with and keep on building my legacy and career after that,” Taylor shared.

Having secured the opportunity to represent Jamaica at the highest level, Taylor said he was driven to leave Tokyo with something to build on for the years ahead.

‘I JUST WANTED TO MAKE IT’

“My thoughts going into this was always to do whatever I needed to do to make it to the final. I did that, by taking it round-by-round. If you noticed. I placed third in the first round, but it didn’t matter. I just wanted to make it. In the other round, I knew that finishing in the top two out of my heat would be my only chance of making it to the final, so I did what I needed to, to make the top two. I knew that I had two days to recover, enough time to come out and get a personal best,” said Taylor.

However, though encouraged by his brave performance in Tokyo, the 21 year-old is not getting ahead of himself and knows that there is still a lot of work ahead.

“Now I am feeling pretty amazing, but I have to go back and start working to place higher to be on the podium for Eugene next year,” he said.

He mentions the need to increase his muscle mass and speed endurance over the coming months, which he assessed, would allow him to execute the event with more conviction.

It has been a year of challenges for Taylor, who was one of Jamaica’s most exciting age-group talents over the past few years.

Coming into the National Senior Championships in June, the World Youth and World Junior Championships medal winner had several injuries and concerns dealing with.

He almost didn’t get a chance to compete in the 400m final at Trials after developing some health issues that almost led to his coach, Rana Reider, pulling him from the event.

With a taste of top-level senior championship experience fuelling his driving ambition, Taylor says he is now determined to take a few more steps forward and is already targeting the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, as a platform.

“Me and my coach have been talking day-in-day-out about my expectations. I’ve been telling him everything I want to achieve, and he said I am the type of athlete, once I put my mind to something, I am going to train for it. So I know once I train hard and work with my coach, I’m going to achieve it,” Taylor said. “So going into next season, I’m just going there with a billboard of [targets], to achieve and I’m going to achieve them. I did it in 2021 here at the Olympics, so I know we’ll do it next year in Eugene,” said Taylor.

andre.lowe@gleanerjm.com