Samaai: I’m not in Shanghai to play

Ruswahl Samaai may be the No 1 long jumper in the world this year, but he feels he is “not in peak form as yet”.

Cape Town - Ruswahl Samaai may be the No 1 long jumper in the world this year, but he feels he is “not in peak form as yet”.

His 8.34m leap to win the South African title in Stellenbosch in April took him past his compatriot Luvo Manyonga’s 8.30m mark posted in March.

Olympic and world champion Greg Rutherford recorded an 8.30m himself on the same day that Samaai won his national award.

But while the British star won’t be present, Samaai says he is ready to “kick the asses” of the best long jumpers on earth in the Shanghai Diamond League meeting on Saturday.

Last year’s world championship silver medallist Fabrice Lapierre of Australia, as well as China’s Jianan Wang – who took bronze in Beijing – will be lining up in Shanghai.

American Jeff Henderson, who was ranked No 1 in 2015 for an outstanding 8.52m jump, has also made the trip to the Far East.

So, Samaai will have his hands full at the Shanghai Stadium, as his personal best is 8.38m. The Rio Olympics are on the horizon, but the Paarl-born athlete is not looking too far ahead.

“My coach (Jenny Kingwill) and I planned to jump 8.30 and more at the nationals, but we were not yet at that stage of going all out in terms of my speed training. So that’s why I’m not in peak form as yet, as the Olympics is the main focus,” the 24-year-old told Independent Media.

“But the Olympics isn’t the goal at the moment, and we will take on any competition that’s in front of me. I will jump against the big names on Saturday, and I may not be at that top level yet, but it’s motivation for me in so many ways to jump against them. I want to kick their asses!

“I’m not here to fill up the numbers - I am there to compete and give my best, not only for myself, but to represent my country at the end of the day. It’s important to stamp my authority on the competition, so that they know I’m here - I’m not here to play. I’m here to do big things. I’m looking forward to jumping against Jeff Henderson again.”

Samaai’s last duel with Henderson was at the World Indoor Championships in Oregon, USA in March, where the American ended fourth and Samaai fifth. So there’s a bit of unfinished business there, but in terms of the bigger picture, it’s all about the Rio Olympics in August.

It is particularly so for Samaai, who won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, but didn’t make it to the final at last year’s world championships in Beijing.

He was hoping to make it a South African double in the long jump in Shanghai this weekend with Manyonga, but the latter had to withdraw due to an ankle injury.

Now Samaai will have to carry the flag along with 400m hurdler LJ van Zyl and 800m runner Rynhardt van Rensburg. “Oh, that’s a great pity and a shock for me, as I wanted us to be number one and two for South Africa in China,” Samaai said when told about Manyonga’s withdrawal.

“I wanted to talk to him and tell him that we are here for the country. But I’m ready to show the world what Rush Samaai can do. It’s the start of a big season for me.

“I worked a lot on my technique over the last week, to run quickly to the board and get a good planting on it. My coach doesn’t want me to jump 8.40m at this stage, but whatever happens on Saturday will happen.

“You would want to jump such big distances later in the year, but I am going out to win on Saturday.”

*Follow @IndyCapeSport on Twitter for live updates of the Shanghai Diamond League event on Saturday.

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@IndyCapeSport

Independent Media