Willie Banks, former world record holder in the open triple jump, is finding his revived comeback as a masters jumper a challenge. But he’s still confident, based on improved speed in workouts, that he’ll reclaim the M45 record in the TJ he lost recently to a German athlete. At Saturday’s SoCal Association USATF masters championships in Culver City, Willie hop-step-and-jumped 13.10 meters — just shy of 43 feet. His M45 American record remains 47-9.
Willie recounted Saturday’s performance thusly:
“I did not have a good series. I only had one legal jump. Unfortunately, this was the first competition in 9 months and I was going from a short run. I managed 13m10 which is not very good. However, I was happy to jump. Of course, I am still in pain but that is a small consolation for being able to compete. One of my mentors, Milan Tiff, was there watching and that gave me incentive to jump. I wish more guys would come out and jump. Once I get my runway together I think I will jump much further.”
Milan Tiff may be making a masters comeback of his own, I’m told. Stay tuned.
