Gayle: I’ve always had speed
Long jump World champion throws down gauntlet to sprinters
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP long jump gold medallist, Tajay Gayle, says he is fast enough to challenge the top sprinters.
The 25-year-old’s reaction follows a revelation by MVP Track Club’s head coach, Stephen Francis, that Gayle would be competing in sprint events this upcoming season.
Gayle posted a personal best 10.18 seconds for the 100 metres last season and 21.18 for the 200m. However, the athlete says he has done better times in training and is ready for the challenge.
“It is kind of whatever for me. But if coach says I can do it, I believe I can. I have always had the speed to challenge the top sprinters, but coach said ‘no’, so it was no,” Gayle admitted.
“However, this year he said he was going to try and see. But we cannot really rush it. It is more like a trial-and-error thing,” he said.
He has not placed any expectations on himself, but warns that even though he will be a newcomer to competitive sprinting he will be no pushover.
“I have no expectations, but you cannot come cold and expect to get the best of me right now. I want to say to the sprinters, no hard feelings, but you guys had the chance and now I am here, so let’s see if you can beat me,” Gayle challenged.
‘I LOVE CHALLENGES’
“I feel great and I love challenges and everybody will be training and saying that they cannot let this jumper come and beat them. But for 2021 I can say I haven’t lost a 100 metres. I am five and O right now, so let us see who can break that,” he stated.
A former Papine High School student, Gayle revealed that even as a jumper he followed the same preseason programme the sprinters did and produced respectable times.
He now hopes to replicate that or do better in real competition.
“I always wanted to try, but it was never serious. We tried last season and it went well,” he shared.
“Leading up to the Olympics, there were a lot of things behind the scenes in training with times and such. At that time I was not competing, but there were a lot of good times, better than 10.18. But it is just background so you cannot really tell how it will go,” he acknowledged.
“But I don’t know if most people noticed, but the 10.18 that I ran, I stopped running after 70 metres. Because whenever I am winning I slow down. It is a habit that I need to break, but coach will work on that along with my start. But things are looking good. I just need to stay healthy,” said Gayle.
KNEE INJURY
He carried a knee injury for much of this year and was unable to deliver his best at the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Although he has not fully recovered, Gayle said he has improved a great deal. And in order to continue his rehabilitation, he has refrained from any jumping for the time being.
Nevertheless, he hopes to make a full recovery early next year to contest the two events.
“Doing two events is nothing new. It is not a burden. The knee is the burden because it is a bit tricky. But it is coming back as I am able to do more things, especially in the gym, and I can move freely,” said Gayle.
“I have to keep doing strengthening work and treatment to keep it healthy, but at the moment it is 100 times better than where it was. But it is still not 100 per cent,” he shared.
“So I haven’t been doing any jumping, just sprint training and strengthening,” he stated. “But it is now October, November. Maybe by December, January it will feel better, but for the moment there is no jumping.”