Coach Francis surprised by Gayle's long jump national record

Coach of Tajay Gayle, Stephen Francis, says he had to take matter into his own hands on Saturday as the long jumper captured the world title in Doha, Qatar. After barely making the final, Gayle leapt to a national record 8.69m to capture the world title in just his first major global championship.

Francis said having seen what happened in qualifying, he made a the decision to take full control of a key aspect of Gayle's preparation for the final.

“The difference between the qualifying and the final is that he was forced to warm up properly. Often times I’m not around to monitor it and he tends to shirk that. He went out for the qualifying cold. I told him I would personally oversee his warm up for the final and I think that was the main difference,” said Francis. Francis added that Gayle's gold medal winning jump surpassed his expectations.