23 July 2009

Tom Parsons goes into this Saturday’s high jump event at the Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace knowing that only a season’s best leap will be good enough to give him a chance of securing qualification for next month’s World Championships in Berlin.

The 25-year-old Birchfield Harrier, who finished tenth at the World Championships in 2007 before coming eighth in the Olympic final in Beijing last summer, cleared 2.25m at the first attempt at the Birmingham Games last weekend, but narrowly failed to jump the ‘B’ standard mark of 2.28m.

Parsons, whose personal best of 2.30m was achieved last season, has to jump the ‘A’ standard mark of 2.31m to all but guarantee a spot in the British term for Berlin, although the ‘B’ standard height may just be sufficient. His best leap of the season was the 2.27m he cleared to win the Midlands Open Championship late last month.

“After my performance at the Aviva World Trials and UK Championships the previous week, my coach and I had a good look at the video footage in the intervening period,” said Parsons.

“And I have basically gone back to my old run-up from last year, which means that I am chilling on the first bit of the run-up before attacking on the bend. And I performed much better at the Birmingham Games. I came close to clearing 2.28m on all three attempts and I was disappointed not to have jumped it. But I go into the London Grand Prix with lots of confidence. With more people watching, it should also be a cracking atmosphere.

“If I do gain the ‘B’ standard, it is then up to the selectors whether or not they choose to take me to Berlin. But I seem to be coming into form at the right time, and my performances in the past couple of championships would probably be good enough to qualify for the final in Berlin. I am looking forward to the challenge at Crystal Palace.”