Jack Kimani
I have to confess that I didn’t really know anything about Jack Kimani before this year. He is a high jumper who has been based in America. He won the NCAA this year, came second in the British championship, second in the Herculis in Monaco, and then took the bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games this week. He is 22 with a PR of 2.31.
In Monaco, he was second behind Oleh Doroshchuk, beating Tamberi, Barshim and Harrison. He admitted that he was not sure whether to beat them or ask for a selfie!! Speaking to me in Monaco, he said: “I grew up watching a lot of them, so to go against people that you grew up with, that you kind of modeled your game on, is very, very exciting. But at the end of the day, I’m still a competitor, so I still got to focus on myself. But it was a great opportunity. I really enjoyed it”.
He described Monaco as “amazing, probably the best meet I’ve ever done in my life. Obviously, it’s just a debut, so I’m not going to get too excited. It was a good performance; it was a good start, but this is really what I want to do in life. Hopefully I have many more opportunities to do things like that”.
If he keeps jumping 2.30+ then I am sure he will. Speaking in Monaco, he said that his hope for the summer was to be selected for England in the Commonwealth Games and Britain in the Europeans. He has now ticked those boxes.
Speaking after winning his Commonwealth medal this week, he said: “Commonwealth bronze medal sounds really good. I wanted to win; I always want to be the best, but I can still be happy with a bronze. I really loved it out there; it was a great experience. I’ve said it multiple times, but shout out Glasgow; they know how to put on an event. The crowd were loud, they were into it, so shout out to them.”
He also commented on how he seemed to have developed so much this year: “People ask me a lot what’s different about this year, what I’ve changed – not much I always believed I could do this and I still believe I can go a lot further. It’s what I’ve been working on for the last couple of years, but now the results are showing. I think I’m understanding the fun aspect of the sport now too. So I’m making sure I have fun and appreciate the experience, and you will perform your best if you do that.”
I have enjoyed watching him and look forward to seeing him develop more.
