Former World Champion Donald Thomas continued his Diamond League season on Tuesday, competing at the Müller British Grand Prix Meet in Gateshead, Great Britain. The Bahamian National Champion continued his impressive post-nationals spree, recording a victory in the men’s high jump.
Thomas, 37, leapt 2.25 meters (m) – 7’ 4-1/2” – clearing that height on his first attempt. He secured the win and earned 11 points in the qualifying process for the Diamond League Final, the Weltklasse Zürich, which will be held September 8-9 at Letzigrund Stadium in Zürich, Switzerland.
On Tuesday, Thomas failed twice at 2.28m (7’ 5-3/4”) and once at 2.30m (7’ 6-1/2”), but his clean sheet up until 2.25m allowed him to come away with the victory. His season’s best jump is 2.28m.
Marco Fassinotti, of Italy, also cleared 2.25m yesterday, but had two knockdowns at that height before going over the bar on his third attempt. He settled for second, and Fabian Delryd, of Sweden, was third, clearing 2.22m (7’ 3-1/4”).
Just a week ago, Thomas soared 2.27m (7’ 5-1/4”) to finish seventh at the 2021 Gyulai István Memorial in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. Thomas, who has won a medal at just about every athletic competition he has competed in with the exception of the Olympics, is looking to change that misfortune when he travels to the Tokyo Olympics next week. The games are just nine days away, set for July 23 to August 8, in Tokyo, Japan.
The Bahamian high jumper, now 14 years removed from his world title, set his personal best (PB) clearance of 2.37m (7’ 9-1/4”), just a centimeter off Troy Kemp’s national record of 2.38m (7’ 9-3/4”), in Hungary, in 2016. Kemp is the only other World Champion for The Bahamas in the men’s high, winning that global title in 1995 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
As for Thomas, he was added to Team Bahamas for the Olympics after qualifying through world ranking points during the qualifying period. He was able to average 1,217 points during the world rankings period for the men’s high jump, from the end of June 2019 to the end of June 2021. He is in an 13-way tie for 53rd on the world’s top performance list for 2021.
Thomas is making his fourth straight trip to the Olympics. He was the only Bahamian competing at the Diamond League meet in Gateshead on Tuesday.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/thomas-picks-up-a-win-in-gateshead/
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