The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

GOLD Coast, Australia: Putting any celebrations he had intended on hold until after he received his hardware, Jamal Wilson said it's so surreal that he finally won his first senior international medal at the XXI Commonwealth Games.

On Thursday night at the Cararra Stadium before the start of day five of the athletic competition, Wilson was awarded his silver medal for his performance the night before when he soared 2.30 metres or 7-feet, 6 1/2-inches to finish behind Australia's gold medalist Brandon Starc and ahead of Canada's Django Lovett.

He said he didn't get to celebrate because there was so much going on with people from the Bahamas sending him congratulatory messages.

"I think tonight is going to be a little bit different," he said. "Last night was a wonderful night with a lot of love from home."

With the medal around his neck, Wilson said he feel like he's five pounds heavier.

"I need to put on a few pounds, but I need to win a few more medals so I can pack on some more pounds," he said. "Burt it feels good. It's a silver, but the silver feels like gold for me. It's my first major medal. I'm happy to make my family proud and make my people proud."

The season has just started for Wilson, who intends to go to the Central American and Caribbean Games in July in Mexico and hopefully he can duplicate the feat. He said he and his long-time coach Ronald Cartwright will go over their strategy and decide on how they will proceed.