Christoff Bryan aims high for 2014
By Dania Bogle
Wolmer’s Boys School’s Christoff Bryan is aiming to surpass his personal best 2.20m in 2014 as he sets his sights on winning the high jump at this year’s International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Bryan claimed a bronze medal at the 2013 IAAF World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine but says he was disappointed as he believed he could have won.
“I really wanted a gold medal at the World’s. I really felt like I could have won it but my coach didn’t get to come and we were doing a new run-up. He was the one who introduced me to it and h wasn’t there to correct certain things,” bemoaned Bryan to MilesplitJa.
The lankly athlete, who stands well over six feet tall, won the $250,000 prize for his outstanding year in 2013 at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association Golden Cleats Awards last December.
His ultimate aim is to break the Jamaica national record of 2.28m held by former Jamaica representative and 2008 Olympic Games high jump silver medalist Germaine Mason.
“I see his accomplishments as a target I really want to surpass,” said Bryan.
Bryan has won the high jump at ‘Champs’ for the last two seasons. Now in Class one, the defending champion’s season has been hampered somewhat by the fact that field at Wolmer’s Boys School has been under rehabilitation work for much of the pre-season
However, Bryan said that what was affected for the most part was his pre-season work including speed work.
He hopes that he will have enough prep time before the March 25 start of the Boys & Girls Championships to achieve his goal.