Following Troy Doris’ two Diamond League meets in Norway and Sweden last week, the national triple jump record holder admitted that his mantra ahead of the Rio Olympics is “I have to do better.”
Guyana’s best bet to medal at the Olympic Games this August told Stabroek Sport recently that he “after the Stockholm Diamond League, even though I finished second, which I’m truly excited about, I had a stronger feeling of a “I have to do better” attitude over than I did in Oslo.
The number three ranked triple jumper in the world reasoned that he needs to be averaging 16.90m jumps or a bit higher “when I compete at these bigger meets and I definitely need to show the world that I belong at these meets and more to come.”
Doris added “I think it’s best that I feel this way, especially leading up to the Olympics because it’ll drive me to do better and set me up for a better position to make the finals in Rio.”
The 27-year summed up the two Diamond League meets as “great” despite the fact he was not on the podium in Norway.
“Even though I wasn’t able to get the result I wanted to in Oslo, it was definitely a performance to motivate me. It was my first Diamond League, but going into it, I didn’t feel the pressure of it. I’ve learned this year to take the anticipation of a big meet out of my mind and just compete against myself and do my best.”
Doris who rose to prominence after leaping 17.18m (national record) on May 14 in Florida, is back at his training base in Greece. He told this publication that he is “getting after it every day with specific training. I’m definitely looking to a PR again before I leave Europe or sometime before the Games begin.”