Last year, my younger son discovered he had a talent for long jump. He managed to jump over four metres on his very first jump.
So this year he was clearly first choice for long jump at sports day. And with no willing volunteers, and nobody good at high jump in his house, his classmates nominated him to take part in the high jump too. He was pretty sure he was the underdog and was going to come last.
When he got into the car on sports day, I asked him how he’d got on.
‘Well… ‘ he went on to list a number of kids who are either very tall or very good at sport or both. I should have recognised the deadpan delivery from the handball tournament.
‘And I can’t even fosbury flop! So I just did a scissor jump… ‘
There was a pause that Ant and Dec would have been proud of.
‘And I won!’
My son beat the very tall boy doing fosbury flop by three centimetres and the other boys by quite a lot of centimetres. He managed to jump 1.42 metres – the approximate height of a 10 year old child. Not bad at all!
And as for the long jump… The other kids asked the teacher why they had even bothered turning up, because it was obvious who was going to win.
My son did his best ever jump – 4.48 metres. The other kids couldn’t even make it to four metres. His closest rival jumped 51 centimetres less than my son.
I’m very impressed with my son and very proud of him. Until last year, he had no idea that he could jump, but he’s the best in his year group at both long jump and high jump.
May 16, 2017
Well done your boy!
It sounds like he has springs in his feet or something….lol
May 17, 2017
Thanks very much! I think he must do 😉
May 16, 2017
Wow Sarah, that is incredible! How amazing to discover he is so skilled when he first jumped. Is he going to learn to fosbury flop? It sounds like he could be incredible at both jumps.
Nat.x
May 17, 2017
Thanks very much! He absolutely loves jumping and it’s great he’s got something to do now the football and rugby seasons are over. Yes, he’s going to learn to fosbury flop as he must have reached his absolute limit with the scissor jump. x
May 17, 2017
Very impressed on the jumping. I can remember being able to jump just over 4 metres at school in the long jump, but I could never have got to 4 and a half. Who knows what he could achieve with a bit of coaching.
May 17, 2017
Thanks very much. Four metres is very good for a girl! He’s hoping to join a local athletics club, to see if he can increase his distance further 🙂
May 17, 2017
Oh well done you must be very proud. But what size feet does he have – they look so small – especially for someone jumping so high and far.
May 17, 2017
Thanks very much, I’m very proud! No, his feet aren’t small at all – they’re a 9!
May 19, 2017
That’s really impressive!! I remember doing long jump at school and its a lot harder than it looks, especially the way you have to almost leap into it. It sounds like he has discovered a new talent!
May 20, 2017
Thanks very much, I think he has! He seems to have got his technique just right. I think there’s quite a bit of science involved in it, so no wonder he’s good at it!
May 21, 2017
Well done to him! That is amazing. My boys aren’t very keen on athletics which is a real shame as I was quite good when I was at school and it is so lovely to be out in the sunshine instead of these winter sports that they seem to love so much.
May 22, 2017
It’s a shame that your boys aren’t interested. Athletics has given my son a real new lease of life for the summer. I always worry about him being inactive and spending too much time indoors once the football and rugby seasons are over, so I’m so pleased he’s discovered a love and talent for athletics.