Pinnock owes World Championship experience to dad
Published:Monday | July 18, 2022 | 12:07 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
EUGENE, Oregon:
As grateful as national long jump champion Wayne Pinnock was after his first major championship final, he said he owed his road to the World Athletics Championships to his father, who convinced him to seize his opportunity.
Pinnock finished ninth in Saturday’s final with a leap of 7.88 metres barely missing out on the top eight in his senior team championship debut.
It was a moment, however, that could have easily not materialised.
Despite winning the national championship in June with a personal best of 8.14m, his participation according to him was in doubt, having suffered an injury in the process. If it were up to him, he would not have made the trip to Oregon.
However, Pinnock said that it was a long conversation with his father that ultimately led to his decision to make his senior championship debut.
“When I jumped the 8.14m at the national championships on my first jump I messed up my ankle. To be honest I wasn’t training for almost two weeks. I wasn’t planning to come. (But) my dad told me that, just go out there and get the experience and I said, OK, I will go,” Pinnock told The Gleaner. Pinnock’s 7.97m in the first round was good enough to make the final. He said he had no regrets, content that he left everything in the final.
“I put in my all. That is just what I wanted to do in my first World Championship,” Pinnock said.
Pinnock’s first senior final at age 21 is the culmination of a collegiate season that saw him win the National College Championship at Hayward Field last month after having to struggle through injuries for most of the year.
He said that he will not be taking part in the upcoming Commonwealth Games, but he is taking the lessons from a successful year to continue his personal and professional growth.
“I have been competing since January, SEC (Southern Eastern Conference) champion, and national champion. I am just very grateful for everything. This is just a learning experience for me at the World Championships at my young age,” Pinnock said.
“It is a very big achievement. I dreamt of this and it came true. Nothing beats a try and I am trying. I just have to come back next year, fix myself up and come back stronger.”