The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It wasn’t the type of year or performance at the 2012 Olympic Games that Donald Thomas anticipated.

But the 28-year-old who made the fantastic transformation from playing basketball in 2006 to winning a medal at every international event he competed in except the Olympics, said he’s still going through the growing pains of learning how to perfect the high jump.

After failing to advance out of the qualifying round at the Olympics in London, England, where he posted a disappointing leap of 2.16 metres or 7-feet, one-inch, Thomas had two appearances in Lausanne, Switzerland on August 23 where he was seventh at the Athletissima and fifth in Birmingham, Great Britain on August 26 with a fifth place at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix.

In both meets, he cleared 2.24m (7-41/4).

“It was a rough season,” said Thomas as he finally broke his silence. “I just wanted to give it a try after the Olympics. A lot of people don’t know, but I caught a cramp in my calf muscle at the Olympics and I had to go get acupuncture. I had to get one before and after I competed.

“That’s why I had a tough time during the qualification so I just wanted to go back out after the Olympics and give it a shot. At that point, the season was over. I was just going meet to meet and see how I would respond after the whole Olympic experience. I had a few injuries indoors that slowed me down and I just wasn’t where I wanted to be.”

It was the second trip to the four-yearly Olympics for Thomas. He made his debut in Beijing, China in 2008 and it was just as disappointing for him as it was in London. In Beijing, Thomas only cleared 2.20m (7-21/2) in the qualifying round for 21st overall as he failed to get into the final.

“This year, my preparation for the games was good. I felt ready,” said Thomas, who noted that he was so focused on competing that he had declined to speak to the media leading up to the games. “I just got a cramp and couldn’t perform to my full potential. That’s a part of the game.”

In fact, if you look at Thomas’ r�sum�, the Olympics has been the only international meet that he has not had any success in so far in his short, but impressive career. His list of achievements include the following:

• 2007 IAAF World Championships gold medallist in Osaka, Japan

• 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist in New Delhi, India

• 2011 Pan American Games gold medallist in Guadalajara, Mexico

• 2007 Pan American Games gold medallist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games gold medallist in Mayag�ez, Puerto Rico.

• 2010 Continental Cup silver medallist in Split, Croatia.

The Grand Bahamian native, now on vacation through the end of September, will be preparing to return to Rio de Janeiro next year for his third appearance in the IAAF World Championships and he’s hoping that he can put this season behind him and contend for another trip on the medal podium.

“I feel good about my career, but people don’t realize that even though I’m taking on the world and jumping against these guys, every guy I jump against on the world level, has been jumping twice or three times as long as I’ve been doing it,” said Thomas, in trying to put his performance in perspective for those who have been criticising him.

“I’ve only been jumping from ‘07. These guys grew up doing this and they have more experience. But the only title that I haven’t won is the Olympic title. So I consider myself fortunate to have all of the titles that I have. I consider my career a good one. There’s still some more things that I can add to it, like regaining my title and be ranked to number one again.”

Thomas, who trains out of Auburn, said he simply has to go back to the drawing board and make the necessary adjustments, especially with his run-up approach to the bar.

“I don’t have a problem getting up in the air, but my approach to the bar is the main thing I’m having problems with right now,” he said. “Once I can work that out, everything else will flow. I hope to correct that for 2013. If everything works out, I will be right there. I just need to up my game.”

No doubt, he will get it done when he starts training again.