Long Jumper Phillips Back On World Record Trail

The 31-year-old`s jump of 8.74 metres at the Prefontaine Classic on Sunday equalled the fifth longest on record.

Just months after contemplating retirement, American Dwight Phillips thinks his ambition of becoming the best long jumper of all time might not be such a leap after all.

The 31-year-old's jump of 8.74 metres at the Prefontaine Classic on Sunday equalled the fifth longest on record.

Only world record holder Mike Powell, Bob Beamon, Carl Lewis and Robert Emmiyan have jumped farther. Americans Larry Myricks and Erick Walder have also jumped 8.74.

"The world record definitely is my goal," the 2004 Olympic gold medallist and two-times world champion said. "I feel I am capable of it."

His jump, into a headwind, was the longest in 15 years and left him wondering if Powell's 1991 world record of 8.95 might have been in danger if the wind had been at his back.

"You put a 1.2 (metres per second) wind behind me instead of in my face, and we may have had a world record today," he said.

Chief rival and Beijing champion Irving Saladino of Panama finished second at 8.63, suggesting a season of outstanding jump competition lies ahead.

"I have a lot of confidence now so it is going to make it very difficult for my opponents," said Phillips.

This has not always been the case in recent years for the oft-injured athlete. Even before a series of injuries sapped his effectiveness on the runway he had become complacent about jumping, he said.

"I had lost a lot of love for the sport because I had accomplished almost everything I had ever dreamed," he told Reuters. "I was very complacent. I felt like I did not have to train that hard."

Phillips went from being No. 1 in the world in 2006 to not making the U.S. Olympic team in 2008.

Retirement was very much on his mind late last year until his father steered him back on track.

"'You still have more in you,'" Phillips recalled his father saying. "So I decided to give it one more try."

Phillips is America's best hope for long jump gold in August's world championships.