The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BEIJING, China — Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands came off the field at the Bird’s Nest smiling.

He didn’t have to shed any emotional tears, but rather he had a confident walk into the mixed zone knowing that he went out in the final of the men’s triple jump and left it all in the pit at the 15th IAAF World Championships.

His leap of 16.68 metres or 54-feet, 8 3/4-inches for 10th place said it all. No medal, but mission accomplished.

“I was feeling a little sore today, but it’s no excuse. I came out and I did my best and I walked off,” said Sands, who is accustomed to having a day’s rest in between the preliminaries and the finals, but had to comply with the change of the back-to-back days to compete here.

“The last time I was at a championship (2012 Olympic Games in London, England), I was taken off on a stretcher, so I have to be thankful for everything that the Lord has done for me. I had an amazing year and I was just happy and excited that it is all finished with.”

Unfortunately, Sands’ series of jumps wasn’t enough to propel him into the final eight competitors for the showdown for the three medals on the podium. He scratched his second attempt and followed with 16.47m on the last jump.

At the end of the competition, American Christian Taylor popped the world leading jump of 18.21m (59-9) on his sixth and final attempt to secure the gold. The jump was the second best in history behind Jonathan Edwards’ world record of 18.27m (59-11 1/4) that he set at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.

In one of the toughest competitions indicative of all of the events here at the Bird’s Nest, the silver went to Cuba’s Pedro Pichardo with 17.73m (58-2) and the bronze to Portugal’s Nelson Evora with a season’s best of 17.52m (57-5 3/4).

For Sands, it wasn’t about winning a medal, but rather just to be back in competition at the Bird’s Nest where he returned since winning his Olympic bronze medal in 2008.

“It was a great feeling. Making the final was amazing. This is my first year. Nobody expected me to be here,” he said. “I was so excited just to be back here in the final on the world stage and I think a lot of people were excited to seeing me back doing what I love to do, I feel good about it. No crying today.”

Now the work has just begun as he goes full circle in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at next summer’s Olympic Games where he will get to relive the moment when he went down with the injury in the final and subsequently required surgery that kept him out of action for two years.

“When I first started this year, my goal was Rio. This all came as a surprise for me. I started jumping well, better than I thought I would jump this year,” he said. “I guess when you think you have plans, God has other plans and so that is how it has happened.

“So going into next year, my main focus is Rio and so I have to put my all into that. I’m sure that I will be ready for that. Seeing that I got qualified for the World Championships, I will be ready for Rio.”

Sands, who celebrated his 34th birthday on August 16, said his greatest challenge is trying to find someone to coach him as he continues his quest to regain his competitive edge that led to him winning the Olympic bronze here in Beijing in 2008 and his 2003 World Championship bronze in Manchester, England.

“Since April, I’ve been doing this all on my own,” said Sands, who miraculously worked his way back to stardom by winning the silver at the Pan Am Games in July to qualify for Beijing before he went to the NACAC Championships two weeks ago to clinch the bronze in preparation for his return to the Bird’s Nest.

“I just need an eye. Hopefully I can get someone who can watch me this up and coming season to watch my approaches and tell me what I’m doing wrong. But it’s just an amazing feeling knowing that I’ve been doing this alone since April.”

And now that he’s back, Sands said he knows the whole Bahamas saw him in the pit in London and realistically a lot of people didn’t think he could do it.

“Now that they are seeing me on the world stage, everybody is believing in Superman Sands again,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling and I’m happy to be back again.”

If you don’t believe it, he’s definitely back.