Making her 2nd appearance at the IAAF World Championships, Chantel Malone (left) had a third round leap of 6.40m for the best jump of her series but did not make the 12 advancing to the final. Veteran Tahesia Harrigan-Scott, who has competed in previous championships in 2005, 2007 and 2009, was sixth in her 100m heat. She recorded a non advancing time of 11.61 seconds at the 14th IAAF World Championships in Russia. Photo: BVIAA

Sprinter Karene King competes in the 14th IAAF World Championships 200m event on Thursday August 15, 2013. Photo: VINO/File

Tahesia Harrigan-Scott running in lane 6 had a time of 11.61 in her heat of the 100m event but that left her outside qualifying for the semi-finals. Image: VINO

Long Jumper Chantel Malone was the first of the all-female trio competing in the 14^th IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow, Russia, when she took to the sandpit on Saturday, August 10.

Making her 2^nd appearance at the championships, Malone had a third round leap of 6.40m for the best jump of her series but did not make the 12 advancing to the final.

Malone said she had good warm up, had to readjust her steps and on her first jump did a total reach. “I couldn’t get to the board and that set me up to be on top of the jump and I didn’t get where I wanted to go,” she explained. “I tried to do everything I had prepared to do, but I don’t know why, it just didn’t happen,” she noted.

The Virgin Islander added that she considered this as her first Championships as in Daegu 2011 she was suffering from a sprained ankle, which required daily acupuncture treatment. “I felt really confident coming into this world championships. My practices were great, I’d never been as mentally prepared or physically prepared but, it just didn’t happen at this time,” she reflected. “I have to believe that everything that happened at this time happened for a reason. I’ll be back for world indoors and I plan to be a factor.”

Six of the top 12 marks that advanced to finals were within her reach, ranging from eventual winner USA’s Britney Reese’s’ 6.57m leap to Anguilla’s Shara Proctor, who now competes for Great Britain, 6.85.

Malone’s 6.40m mark was 21^st of the 31 competitors. “And that is what was the frustrating part because I’ve done half approaches or 10 step approaches over 21ft,” she pointed out. “It’s just annoying knowing that it’s within you, it just didn’t come out when you wanted it to. So, I just have to go back and work, and work and be more consistent and that’s the plan going into next year.”

A 2010 IAAF World Jr. Championships Long Jump and 400m finalist, Malone said she feels this year has been the most consistent in her Long Jumping career.

“Even though some of the marks at meets weren’t as far as I wanted them to be, it wasn’t because I wasn’t up to par. At some meets, I had two legal jumps and the rest were fouls,” she recalled. “I think once I get that rhythm back and mastering the run, I’ll be fine. It was unfortunate that I didn’t get to do what I knew I was capable of doing, but every athlete has those days, even Britney Reese’s jump was nowhere near her best,” Malone pointed out.

“Unfortunately, mine didn’t advance me, but it’s a lesson that I have to accept and grow from it.”

Veteran Tahesia Harrigan-Scott, who has competed in previous championships in 2005, 2007 and 2009, was sixth in her 100m heat. She recorded a non advancing time of 11.61 seconds.

Harrigan-Scott had been besieged by injury since running 11.33 to book her ticket to Moscow. It was her fastest time since the injury after running 11.65 in Sweden, before the championships. “I felt that I was ready to run faster, at least in the 11.2-11.3 range, but the start was awful and my reaction was poor,” she stated of her strong point. “I kind of relaxed in the blocks when he said ‘set’ which caused me to have a delayed reaction and took away the strong side of my race and it went downhill from there.”

Harrigan-Scott came to Europe on a pre-camp training to work on the things that had been lacking since the injury, in terms of preparations and race mechanics, while acclimatising to the 8-hour time difference.

“We noticed that the starts were really good but the end was a bit of a problem, so, on this trip, we were trying to work on the end, but for some strange reason, the start didn’t come at all,” she noted. “The season is over, but practices aren’t over.”

When she ran that 11.33 race early in the season, Harrigan-Scott said it was a great indicator of where she was in her training.

“I was planning on going sub 11 this year, to tell the truth,” the territory’s double sprint record holder said. “My rhythm was finally coming back, my first couple races was seeing what I had to work on and fine tuning different aspects. So, the 11.33 in that meet, considering it was raining and it was cold, I knew I was going to run a great time this year and get a personal best. Now when I got injured, a lot of the mental aspects came into play. It was not a positive as you wanted as you went through the cycle of training really well, training hard, doing everything you are supposed to do, but, something tends to happen. It’s the nature of track and field, and you always have to bounce back,” she pointed out.

“It’s not always as easy as you want it to be, but next year is another year.”