I made my second trip to Rio de Janeiro last week, this time for the Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo which was an IAAF World Challenge competition. My first time to Rio was 4 years ago for the Pan American Games and considering the fact that I didn’t even make the finals back then, I felt like I had some unfinished business to handle at the stadium in Rio. On top of that, I’m not sure if one win counts as a win streak, but after getting the win in Jamaica I was anxious to go 2 for 2 at World Challenge meets, regardless of who else was competing.

After a reasonably long flight from Miami to Rio and about an hour drive to the hotel I was finally able to get a decent meal and then head straight to the track. Believe it or not, I laced up my spikes and did some bounding and accelerations/sprints to shake out the cobwebs and get some blood flowing in my legs again. The following day was a simple pre-meet warm up that included some hurdle hops along with some block starts to help me feel how I would like to drive in my first few strides on the runway. Looks like I should consider doing some sprinting on the side right? Or at least start giving folks lessons on coming out of the blocks! In all seriousness though, I felt great going into Thursday night’s competition and was ready to take care of business.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go exactly as planned although I won’t complain too much about the outcome. I started off warm ups having a little trouble with my approach and it was probably thrown off by the fact that I was driving, pushing and just running better down the runway. So after fouling my first jump, I jumped into the lead in the second round with a 16.92m attempt which ended up being my best of the night. That lead didn’t last long as I was eventually passed by two former World Championships medalists from Cuba (one jumping 16.95m and the other jumping 16.93m). I actually passed my 4th attempt because my knee started to feel a little sore in the third round so I figured it wasn’t worth it since 16.92m was a mark I could live with in my second “real” competition of the year.

The competition itself wasn’t bad although the stadium was pretty much empty except for the backstretch where the runways were. Even with people watching the competition it seemed like they were more interested in partying than cheering for competitors, although the Brazilian athletes got some solid support which is to be expected. I didn’t mind though since I get a boost just about any time I hear noise, music or cheering in the stands and I’m about to jump…even if it’s not for me.

The jumps themselves felt good and relatively effortless like they should. It would have been nice to get some video but that’s usually tough to do. I have been working hardest on my approach and hop-step as you all know and my jump phase hasn’t been what it will eventually be (or even what it usually is). I felt as if I wasn’t being patient and simply curled into a ball and cannon-balled into the pit and as a result probably robbed myself of at least an extra foot. That won’t happen anymore and I’m looking forward to fixing it the next time I compete which will hopefully be on June 11th at the Adidas Grand Prix in NY; if not there then June 25th in the Bahamas.

Finally a quick thanks to a couple new/relatively new sponsors that I am now happy to be working with: Mizuno and RIVALUS.

ON TO THE NEXT ONE…