Mike Mason
Valley Royals high jumper Mike Mason showcased some impressive flexibility en route to the gold medal at Rotary Stadium on Tuesday evening. Photo by John Van Putten
OLYMPIC JUMPERS SOAR TO GOLD IN ABBOTSFORD
By Dan Kinvig – Abbotsford News
The big-name stars didn’t shine their brightest during the Lafarge Abbotsford International Track Classic on Tuesday evening.
But while Canadian Olympians Mike Mason and Ruky Abdulai didn’t approach their personal bests, their efforts under the circumstances were more than enough for victory at the Valley Royals’ annual elite meet.
Mason won the men’s high jump by clearing 2.17 metres, a height that is well short of his personal best of 2.30m. But in light of the fact that he was participating in his third meet in six days while nursing a sore ankle and hamstring, Mason was actually quite pleased with his performance.
“I had a bit of a rough competition on Sunday (at the Harry Jerome Classic in Burnaby),” Mason explained. “I actually jumped 2.25, but it was a technical disaster. I did a lot of things wrong and kind of mangled up my ankle.
“So I decided I’d just work on technical things today. It was kind of like a practice, in the sense that I knew I wasn’t 100 per cent but I wanted to get some positive things out of it. I actually had some jumps I was happy with, which didn’t happen on Sunday.”
Mason, who finished tied for 19th in the high jump at last summer’s Beijing Olympics, is a Nanoose Bay product who has been training with the Abbotsford-based Royals since he was in Grade 9.
Last week, Mason had the opportunity to compete at the Festival of Excellence in Toronto. That meet drew plenty of media coverage due to the presence of Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt.
“I was actually right at the finish line (when Bolt ran the 100m), and it was pretty amazing,” Mason said. “You don’t often get a chance to see something like that in Canada. It was pouring rain, but the stands were filled and people were going nuts.”
As for Abdulai, she was coming off a huge performance at the Harry Jerome event – she set a new meet record (6.60m) in the women’s long jump and defeated Canadian record holder Tabia Charles in the process.
In cooler conditions on Tuesday evening at Rotary Stadium, and without Charles to challenge her, Abdulai’s best effort was 6.34m. But it was still enough for the gold medal, and the Valley Royals athlete was satisfied with her performance.
“This is another practice event for me before nationals next week,” she explained. “I’m pretty excited with 6.34.”
Abdulai was 26th overall in the long jump at the Beijing Olympics, and her current goal is to qualify for the World Championships in Berlin in August. She’s already exceeded the ‘A’ standard of 6.72m, but she needs to make the ‘B’ standard of 6.62m after June 24 to secure her spot.
The international athletes in the field also showed well. Joseph Keino of Kenya won the men’s 800m (1:50.95), while Mexican middle-distance runner Anayelli Navarro took first place in the women’s 1500m (4:26.29). Lerone Clarke of the United States won the men’s 100m in 10.35 seconds, while Kim Kuk-Young (silver, 100m) and Kang Suk-Young (bronze, 800m) will be bringing medals back home to South Korea.
The host Royals placed five athletes on the top of the podium. In addition to Mason and Abdulai, the Abby club got gold medal performances from Julia Howard (800m), Natasha Miller (high jump) and Emma Beckett (pole vault). Dyson Barnes made the world youth standard in the 400m hurdles, clocking a time of 54.71 seconds.
