Hamish Kerr has moved on from World Championship disappointment

Having the World Championships and Commonwealth Games two weeks apart wasn’t ideal for Canterbury high jumper Hamish Kerr but he’s hoping it’ll work out for the best in Birmingham next week.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Kerr won a bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships earlier this year and was expected to be a contender at last week’s outdoor World Championships in Oregon.

However he failed to make the final after a disappointing qualifying session where he managed just two heights, his best being 2.25 metres…. three centimetres below what was required to get through to the final.

The 25 year old doesn’t believe he needs to change anything in Birmingham.

“Realistically going into world champs I was probably about two weeks underdone, which makes good sense given the Comm Games are two weeks later.

“I was obviously close to making the final and I think if I had made it (the final) my performance would have been much better than qualifying.”

So the six-time national champion has put that meeting behind him and since arriving in Britain has been fully focussed on his first Commonwealth Games experience.

“We’ve had some good jump sessions and it’s just progressed as my body starts coming into a peak.”

Kerr is favoured to pick up a medal in his event with Australian Brandon Starc jumping similar heights to him, one of his main rivals.

Kerr set a national record of 2.31m last year and jumped the same height when he finished third at the World Indoor Championships in Serbia in March.

Kerr at the World Champs
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

So he hasn’t changed his build-up in any way.

“It’s business as usual, everything is feeling really good and I’m just that much more confident in my jumping two weeks down the line.”

Kerr and some other members of the athletics squad don’t move from their training base in Wales to the Birmingham athletes village until this weekend and that’s when he admits he’s likely to feel a few nerves.

“Understanding how you perform under certain circumstances where your emotions are elevated or you’re feeling a bit more pressure or feeling nervous can be a real opportunity to capitalise on and use to fuel your athletic performance.

“A lot of the time depending on how you focus that energy can dictate how you perform in the competition.

“For me it’s not about avoiding being nervous but embracing it and using it to fuel my performance.”

Kerr has high jump qualifying on Wednesday August 3th.