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Hi again,

People have asked my thoughts on finishing fifth at the Olympic Trials and, genuinely, I feel mixed emotions. Looking at my results - 7.76m for fifth - it doesn’t look too impressive.

But in the fifth round I just tipped the plasticine by a millimetre and jumped a massive no-jump in the 8.35m-8.40m range. I would, honestly, rather know I’ve done that than to have won the competition with about 7.99m. I’ve also had this virus hanging around.

The day before the competition my glands were swollen and I had a bit of a temperature but I went to the doctors the other day and I’ve been given the all clear.

It was great for Greg he jumped 8.20m, yet I was pleased I responded with one of the biggest jumps in my career. But the main priority was to make the plane for the Olympics.

I may have finished fifth in the trials but I ticked most of the boxes UK Athletics set me. I won a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in March and I had a lot of faith in the selectors.

I was also pleased my training partner, Chris Kirk, finished second behind Greg with a PB of 7.93m. I’ve trained with Chris for a lot of years and he has had always had the potential to be a 7.90m jumper. Hopefully, his performance at the trials will be a turning point in his career.

My next big aim is to perform well and set a new PB at Crystal Palace, although I don’t mind admitting I might have made a little bit of a mistake with my training.

After winning silver at the World Indoors I didn’t jump in a pit for two months and concentrated on my speed and strength. As a result I’m now playing catch up, but as I’ve shown I’m not far away from my very best in Birmingham.

I was back up at Birmingham’s NEC the other day to pick up my Olympic kit which is always fairly exciting.

You are given a huge suitcase of casual wear, competition bag, shorts, T-shirt, trainers, mascot and pins. On top of that you are given a fully tailored suit, shirt, flip-flops and even a video camera, because Panasonic are one of the sponsors.

What makes it even better than four years ago is that I’m now sponsored by Adidas, so I can now wear all the different kit all the time as opposed for just the two weeks of the Games.

The piece of Olympic kit I like best, though, is one of the most inexpensive. I love the luggage straps, which are embroidered with your own name. I can fit this to my luggage wherever I go and find it really useful. I certainly never have any problem locating my bags on the carousel anymore.

Speak soon

Chris