Athletics: North athletes target World Championship glory

Aug 28 2011 Sunday Sun

CHRIS TOMLINSON is not the sort to hype up his hopes for the World Athletics Championships – but he’s quietly confident that Daegu could be the destination for his long-awaited breakthrough.

The British long jump record holder arrived in Korea ranked fifth in the world, thanks to his personal best leap of 8.36 metres in Paris last month.

This will be his seventh major global championship, with two Olympics and four worlds on his resume.

But his fifth place in Athens seven years ago remains his best return.

“Things are going good, obviously I’m having the best season I’ve had to date which I’m very encouraged by,” said Teessider Tomlinson, who prepared for the World Championships in the heat, humidity and rain of Ulsan, South Korea, at a training camp funded by Aviva – supporters of British athletes since 1999.

“It is a nice situation to be arriving in good form and to know that if I jump well then I’m going to be able to come home with something.

“I’m just trying to think qualifying and then final. It would be nice to get a medal obviously. I sat down at the end of last season and looked at myself and only had a pb of 8.29m.

“Once you have the top eight at the Olympics and the worlds where else do you look? You’ve got to look at getting on the podium, but I’m not going to turn around and say I’m going to win the thing.

“But if I turned around and said I wasn’t looking to get on the rostrum then I’m lacking ambition.

“This year has been pretty successful, all athletes want a little bit more, but I am quite a harsh critic and out of 10 I’d rate myself at seven and half or eight out of ten.

“And getting a decent performance at the worlds would make that a nine or even a 10, you never know.”

Tomlinson’s domestic battles with training partner Greg Rutherford have reignited interest in the long jump – but he insists winning a battle of Britain means nothing in Daegu.

Rutherford is ranked ninth in the world and finished fifth in the last world final two years ago.