Long jumper Dwight Phillips to step away from athletics
When the world championship roadshow rolls into Beijing in two years, it will be missing one of its stalwarts.
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Long jumper Dwight Phillips won’t be in Beijing after revealing that Moscow will be his final appearance at an international event. The American has been ever present at the championships since Edmonton in 2001, when he finished eighth.
A the following championships in Paris, he claimed gold and he went on to collect another three in Helsinki, Berlin and Daegu.
On the eve of his last appearance at the competition, he said that missing last year’s Olympics through injury had motivated him to return for his seventh world championships.
“It was devastating not going to London,” he added. “I actually wanted 2012 to be my last year in the sport but after tearing my achilles, I knew that I wanted to go out competing rather than when I was injured.”
He said he’d returned also because he wanted bragging rights over fellow American athletes such as Allen Johnson and Michael Johnson.
“Now I’m in a position where I can win a fifth title,” he said. “I know I can. I believe I can do it. It’s about going out there and elevating my game.”
Phillips, 35, will find it tough. He’s returning to competition from his achilles injury and will have to contend with the fast rising Russian Aleksandr Menkov. He’s been the most consistent jumper this year and will be full of confidence after winning the European indoor championships in Gothenburg in March, with a leap of 8 metres 31.
Former long jumper Michael Powell, who’s in Moscow to watch proceedings, said that Phillips couldn’t be discounted from claiming the gold but added Menkov would start as favourite, as he’d have the backing of the crowd.
Powell holds the world record of 8 metres 95 centimetres which he set as he claimed the crown at the Tokyo World Championships in 1991.
“Ultimately, what I want to see is someone jump around 8 metres 50,” added the 49-year-old American. “You know, 8 metres 31 centimetres won the Olympics last year. I find that very disheartening, especially as someone who never won an Olympic gold. It’s time for someone to jump 8.60 or 8.70 or threaten the world record. It’s time for someone to make me nervous.”
That’s unlikely to be Phillips, who’s wily enough to know that it’s all about winning on the big stage.
And once he leaves competition, he says there’s his video production company to oversee, as well as his family.
“What’s kept me going for so long is that I absolutely love track and field,” he said. “I’ve been doing it since I was eight. I’ve had the opportunity to watch the greats like Sebastian Coe, Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses. They really inspired me with their longevity to be the best I could possibly be. Hopefully I’ve inspired many people too, who can follow in my footsteps.”
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