Christoff Bryan equals Carifta high jump record with win

By Ricardo Chambers, reporting from Basseterre, St. Kitts

When Christoff Bryan cleared 2.16 meters on day two of the Carifta Track & Field Championships to confirm victory at the Kim Collins Stadium in St. Kitts, he had fulfilled a yearning desire.  

Bryan finished second in the Under-20 Boys' High Jump last year, beaten by team-mate Clayton Brown after both cleared 2.16 metres. And although he beat Brown at various other events since then including the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon last summer, the Carifta defeat is one he seemed eager to avenge. 

And that he did. When he cleared 2.16 metres on his first attempt , he was the only man standing, with Brown already out of the medals having failed to clear 2.14 meters. From there, Bryan went for another target, the record and he equalled the mark of 2.21 metres set by Raymond Higgs of the Bahamas. Bryan accomplished the feat on his second attempt. 

"It feels really good," Bryan said, the disappointment of a year ago seemingly providing the catalyst for this year's effort. "Carifta is my place," Bryan exclaimed. "Losing last year I felt really disappointed because I've never lost at Carifta until last year." 

"I really wanted to break the record but I equalled it and my name is in the record book so I am content with that."

Bryan forego his remaining years of eligibility in high school in Jamaica and is now at Kansas State University.  

The Carifta Track & Field Championships was his first outdoor meet after setting a National Junior Record of 2.28 meters indoors. That mark has qualified him for the IAAF Senior World Championships set for Beijing China from August 22-30. 

"That takes a lot of pressure off me because I remember when I went to Kansas I told the coaches that I wanted to jump 2.28 my first year and they were saying I can take it slow, things are not going to happen that quickly, but I mean I showed them wrong." 

Such is the confidence of Bryan. In fact, the 2013 IAAF World Youth bronze medallist has always been an extremely confident competitor and eyes the world championship not as his first major senior event for Jamaica but an event he can make a serious mark.

" I want to clear at least 2.30 metres by the end of the year," making it clear the importance of being ready for the event that will get him to Beijing.

"I'll be coming back for the Trials, both senior and junior, hopefully to make the World championship team and make the final." 

Bryan said he also wants to represent the country at the Pan Am Junior Championships set for Edmonton Canada this summer.