National high-jumper James Grayman, who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the recently held Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, admits that his performance could have been better but said he is not disappointed.
James, who placed fourth at the October 14 to 30 event, said his performance could be considered a stable one based on his previous performances this year.
“I think my performance could have been much better but yet still I am not disappointed. I was able to jump 2.24 metres which has been pretty stable to me this year. For my past four or five competitions since I won my silver medal at the CAC in Puerto Rico this year, I have been quite stable at 2.24, 2.25, 2.26,” he said.
“So I am not that disappointed although I knew it could have been better. There is still a little room for improvement. I think I am just around the right area going forward towards London next year.”
The athlete said he is focussed on preparing for the 2012 Olympics in London and that his coach is encouraged that he can medal at the Games.
“When I went to Germany for the first time and started training with the new coach (and) after seeing me jump for the first two weeks or so, he said that I have the potential to win a medal at the Olympic Games and that is just a matter of finding the right training method that suits me in order for me to get a peak performance out of my abilities,” Grayman said.
“Looking forward to Olympic 2012 Games, his focus was to get me stable and I think we have accomplished that goal so I am looking forward to London and I think it is going to be quite interesting and I think I am going to be able to get up to the 2.30 mark where I would be able to stand a chance of getting onto the medal podium,” he added.
Grayman thanked his sponsors Global Bank of Commerce for their continued support and hopes their partnership will be renewed for another year.
“(I want to) say a kind-hearted thank you to Global Bank of Commerce who has sponsored me for the second year running and we are presently in negotiations now looking forward to a next year with them. So I want to say thank you because without them none of this would have been possible.”
The 2011 Pam American Games team also included Althea Charles, Richard Richardson, Orel Jeffery and Karin Clashing along with Robert Marsh and Tamiko Butler.
(Source http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=67131)
