SA long-jumper Henry Frayne eyes Tokyo Olympics glory after world championships disappointment
He describes it as the worst performance of his decade-long international athletics career. But SA long-jumper Henry Frayne says his world championships failure is firing a new approach as he targets Tokyo Olympics glory.
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Henry Frayne went through six days of soul searching after producing the worst performance of his career on the global stage.
The SA long-jumper arrived at the world championships confident of challenging for a medal, having put his decade-long injury nightmare firmly behind him.
But Frayne bombed out in the qualifiers in Doha, as his best mark placed him 3cm short of a spot in the following day’s final.
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It left the now Brisbane-based athlete physically and emotionally drained, and questioning his path to next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
“It was a bitterly disappointing championships for me,” Frayne, 29, said.
“I went there legitimately eyeing off probably a silver medal.
“But it was probably the worst performance of my career and that’s all on me.
“If I’d snuck through (to the final) in 12th, I still think I would have been on for the top-five or medal contention.
“But it sucks when you come away with something so far below what your expectations are.
“It was a pretty abysmal result.”
Frayne puts his sub-par display down to misjudging the field, as he attempted to leave plenty in the tank for a potential medal charge 24 hours later.
Indeed, his jump of 7.86m ranked him just one place short of a final berth and eventual champion Tajay Gayle in the qualifying standings.
But the reigning Commonwealth silver medallist refuses to hide behind excuses, eight weeks on.
“I definitely analysed it,” the former St Peter’s College student said.
“But it wasn’t like a ‘what the hell happened’ scenario.
“It was pretty clear to me, almost as it was happening, what I’d done.
“I had underestimated the effort that I would need to get through the qualifying round, because I thought I was on for a medal.
“I don’t think I misjudged what sort of shape I was in, because I was in really good shape.
“But with hindsight and on reflection, I just didn’t put enough out there on the track.
“It took a little longer than previous ones (to get over), particularly when it was 100 per cent me.
“But I didn’t have too many issues with motivation.
“I just needed to clear my head and do a bit of surfing.
“I’ve come too far and suffered too many injuries to give up now.”
Instead of wallowing in defeat, Frayne has used the setback to fuel a fresh approach to training and preparation as he eyes his third Olympics.
He has cut all dairy, most meat and a range of inflammatory foods from his diet in an attempt to improve his recovery from competitions and high-intensity workouts.
The ploy has so far helped in reducing the lower-body soft-tissue injuries, mainly hamstring-related, that have plagued his career.
Frayne and coach Gary Bourne have also scaled back the heavy power lifts and long gym sessions which may have contributed to his recurring physical problems.
More plyometrics – explosive bounding work – and time spent honing his craft on the track are now the focus.
“The goal is to try to jump more,” said Frayne, who claimed silver at the 2012 world indoor titles.
“Ultimately what you need as an elite athlete is consistency in training to get consistency in performance.
“In an ideal world, you change one major variable at a time so you can have a baseline and see if something is working or not.
“But as you get later on in your career, time runs out.
“Next year is the Olympics and I may or may not go through another Olympic cycle after that.
“If this is to be the last one, I need to finish my career knowing that I tried everything in my power.”
Frayne considers himself both a Croweater and a Queenslander, given he left Adelaide for Melbourne aged 16 to chase his athletics dreams, before moving to Brisbane in 2010.
His lack of meets means he is yet to register the Olympic qualifying standard of 8.22m – 22cm shy of his personal best – this year.
But Frayne hopes a strong summer domestic campaign and the world indoors in Nanjing, China, in March, will stamp his ticket to Tokyo.
“Right now, the big picture is to win a medal at the Olympics.
“But the first step to winning a medal at the Olympics is to qualify for the Olympics.
“You can’t just jump to the final goal, you have to put the pieces together along the way.
“I don’t think about wining gold at the Olympics every single day.
“But if I’m ever struggling for motivation, then that ultimately gets thought about because it’s why I’m doing why I’m doing.”
Originally published as SA long-jumper Henry Frayne eyes Tokyo Olympics glory after world championships disappointment