Former long jump champion pleased with Pinnock’s performance
Published:Tuesday | July 19, 2022 | 12:15 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
FORMER TWO-TIME national long jump champion Ramone Bailey says he was pleased with the efforts of first-time senior representative Wayne Pinnock, despite a ninth place in the finals of the men’s long jump at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
“I was indeed pleased with Pinnock’s performance. He is young and lacks experience on the big stage but the first-time jitters are gone now and we should start seeing more big performances from him at the international level. We have also have to take in account that he has just completed a long and brutal American college track and field season, so he might just be experiencing fatigue at this point,” Bailey said.
Pinnock, who was representing Jamaica at his first senior championships, won the national title with a 8.14m leap. At the World Champs, Pinnock’s best effort was 7.88m.
Despite that, the 2017 and 2018 national champion Bailey also believes that with Gayle’s absence from the finals due to injury, it might have taken some form of motivation from the young Pinnock.
“ Not sure if Gayle would have pushed him (Pinnock) to compete better, but Pinnock would probably have felt more comfortable given that he could have another familiar face to get an athlete’s perspective from track side,” he added.
The 30-year-old Bailey, who has a personal best leap of 8.16m, had to cut his career short due to nagging injuries but admits he still feels the urge to don the black, green and gold yet again.
“Yes, I miss the thrills of competing. I have contemplated coming out of retirement but at the moment, my legs aren’t allowing me to train properly,” he said.
The 2018 North American Central American and Caribbean champion is also of the belief that more can be done to encourage young athletes to get involved in not just track, but field events for Jamaica.
“I think more attention needs to be brought to the field events, not just when someone does well or when we (Jamaica) have representatives in the events,” Bailey concluded.