Last year, a young man named Christian Taylor shook the world of triple jump by beating Phillips Idowu.
Little knew of him before that meet at Crystal Palace, jumping 17.66 he firmly introduced himself as the new kid on the block.
He then announced himself on the track and field scene when he jumped an incredible 17.96m, which put him fifth on the all-time list as he claimed his first senior gold medal at the 2011 Deagu World Championships.
Instantly the attention fell upon the University of Florida athlete and was immediately placed not only to win the gold medal at the London Olympics, but also to break Jonathan Edwards 18-year-old World Record, which currently stands at 18.29m.
He proved the punters right and picked up his Olympic medal, jumping 17.81m in the process, but how does it sound to be introduced as Olympic Champion…?
“That sounds wonderful,” he said. “It is truly a dream come true. Because I have been so busy since the Games, I don’t think it has really hit home but I know that carrying this medal is a huge blessing in itself and I couldn’t be happier.”
It almost didn’t go to plan however, the two opening rounds were deemed as fouls even though they looked to have been beyond the 18m mark, it was touch and go.
Nerves from not only the 21-year-old, but from the crowd too, began to show as he stepped up on the runway to for his make or break third round.
“Of course I was nervous, If I fouled the next one my Olympic Games were over,” he said. “If I didn’t jump far enough, the journey was over. But I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“I knew that I was in the best physical shape of my life and that God had a plan. So I just let go and cleared my head and once I saw the white flag, I knew everything was ok.”
His team mate Will Claye, who earlier in the week bagged a bronze medal in the Long jump, put pressure on from the second round, closely followed by Italian veteran Fabrizio Donato.
However, Taylor muscled up all the talent he had, that experience of the final in Degau last year and jumped 17.81m to put him in first place, a world lead and a seasons best.
“There was definitely pressure but not more than what I put on myself. Coach and I had worked so hard this year so I knew for me to mess up this opportunity it would have had to be a mental thing.
“Lucky for me, I am mentally very strong so with that combination I push the pressures aside and focus on doing what I need to do.”
There was a long wait, not only because of the rounds but Bahamian Leevan Sands suffered a horrific injury.
Nearly ten minutes passed while he received treatment and was wheeled off the track, enough to take any jumper ‘s momentum away, not Taylors.
His fifth round measured at 17.55 and he missed his last round, but he had to wait for Claye to take his turn.
He nailed his hop but lost momentum in his step and subsequently faltered on his jump, that meant that the gold was Taylor’s, almost a year after he ‘s won his World Championship medal, quite a success rate you could say.
“Well obviously I wanted to win,” he said. “I knew it would have been between Claye or Donato. When I saw him bail out of the jump I think I immediately went into shock.
“All the emotions rushed to my head and my name went up in the stadium that I was officially the Olympic Champion. I went straight to my coach and thanked him and then said a prayer because I know that all this happens by God’s will and I had to thank Him.”
Many believed that the American could jump 18m and maybe surpass his idol’s long-standing World Record on the night.
It didn’t come, but deep down Taylor knew the distance was there and had it not been for his two foul jumps, he could have risen on the all-time list. But does he think that he can break it in the future?
He said, “I absolutely thought I was going to do it that night. If you look at the first two fouls you will see that both of them were on or even past the 18m mark.
“By doing this I now know that it is possible and no longer will think can I do it, but when will I do it.
“Every time I compete I am thinking about that. I have a lot of respect for the man and the distance.
“I believe that people think it is easier to reach than it really is but I would love to be the man that breaks it. I have studied Jonathan every day for the last 2 years and think of the things I need to do to get to that distance. But only time will tell when that will happen.”
Now the Olympics have been and gone, the focus now is to get as many youngsters into athletics, sport in general.
Anyone watching what Christian Taylor did that evening in London will surely ‘Inspire a Generation.’
If you’re looking for advice, I give you the London 2012 Olympic Champion, as he offers his kind words of wisdom to inspire anyone wanting to get involved with sport.
“I would tell them to study those that did it before you. This way they will have a greater respect for the event and the people that did it before them.”
Follow Christian’s progress throughout his career via his twitter page @Taylored2Jump and his Facebook Page
