By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net    

KEN Mullings, the national record holder for the men’s heptathlon event, took a break from his Olympic Games preparation to give back to the next generation of jumpers on Saturday at the original Thomas A Robinson Stadium. 

Mullings partnered with Powerade to host a free jumps clinic along with the assistance of coaches Jason Edwards and DeMarius Cash. The trio of coaches helped the youth to discover new skills and brush up on their techniques in the triple jump, long jump and high jump events at the one-day clinic.

Mullings, who is the first Bahamian decathlete to qualify for the Olympics, spoke about some of the drills and techniques coaches were able to work through with the jumpers.

“We went through the high jump, long jump and a little bit of speed so that they could understand the importance of it. We had about five kids today and the weather kind of played a part in the numbers but we still had a good showing to help the youth learn something. We were basically emphasizing the importance of warmups, drills and why we do these specific stuff to get ready for these jumps,” he said.

The small group featured less than 10 participants but, according to the former University of The Bahamas student-athlete, it allowed for a more personal approach.

“The small group kind of helped us to be a bit more specific with each individual to actually show them their weaknesses and what they need to improve on. In this short period of time, I have seen some talents and some improvement on their techniques. I do not want to speak too soon but I would like to do something like this in the future again,” he said.

The Bahamas has experienced great success in the field events as numerous athletes have ventured into the jumps, throws and multi-events.

Mullings expressed that these types of clinics are essential for helping the youth to understand which events they prefer and can excel in.

“These clinics will help the younger kids to understand which events they are actually good at. One of the guys here competes in the 400m, 800m and 1500m events and by coming to this clinic at his age opens the door for him to know if he is better in the jumps or if those are his strong events. In the future if there are more people willing to host clinics in each event, not just the 100m, 400m or hurdles but more like pole vault, javelin and shot put it would let the kids feel how it is to do other events so they can know if they like it,” he said.

Nicholas Knowles, 17, competes in the long jump and triple jump events. After Saturday’s clinic, the senior student at Kingsway Academy believes there is potential for him to try his hand at the high jump event next season.

“I feel like it was a great experience and very informative. I learned a lot that I didn’t know about the events that I do. I realize that I could actually do good in the high jump. He showed me some talent that I have and I really appreciated that,” he said.

Lashaun Polhemus, 18, shared the same sentiments and was grateful to Mullings and Powerade for providing the opportunity.

“ I feel like I had a great experience. It was a lot of high energy and I feel like I learned a lot especially with them giving the opportunity to people less fortunate to get an opportunity to come out and get a feel for their full potential,” he said.

Polhemus is looking forward to trying out the multi-events in the future.

“I see myself competing in the octathlon or heptathlon sooner than later. It was very beneficial and helped me to improve how I jump to get higher and further jumps,” he said.

Participants were given Powerade paraphernalia to end their experience on a high note.

Mullings will now shift his focus to training for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games set for July 26 to August 11.