Well guys and girls, I am back from my trip to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I will never forget it.

We spent 7 days in Doha (Qatar) as a holding camp where we acclimatised to the heat. It was too hot to train in the day (40 degrees) so we trained at 5.30pm which was when the sun sets. We trained at the Aspire World Class Training Centre which was an amazing facility. It even has an air conditioned outdoor football pitch so it can be 40 degrees outside but on the pitch it’s only 19 degrees! Crazy!

We then moved over to the Athlete Village in Delhi. After all the negative media and worrying about facilities not being up to Western standard, we pleased not to be met with anything like what we had heard. The village was fully functioning with great accommodation and a huge variety of food available to eat 24/7 and all the athletes seemed happy.

My competition went very well for me. I was not nervous, just very excited. I never get nervous before or during competitions (that is one of my strengths). I failed my first attempt at 5.10m which got me a little worried but I cleared it on my second quite comfortably so I was still calm and collected. I focused on clearing the next height 5.25m on my first attempt and then cleared a PB of 5.40m on my second attempt which put me in bronze medal position. My first attempt at 5.50m was so close – I just skimmed it with my chest and it wobbled off. Fellow English athlete and countrys’ number one pole vaulter Steve Lewis, jumped 5.60m to take Silver and the Australian Steve Hooker jumped 5.60m on his first attempt so that was enough for him to secure the gold. We then proceeded for a ‘lap of honour’ and the Indian crowd went crazy taking pictures and diving at the balconies.

The medal ceremony was the next day and that was a nice experience. Would have been nicer to hear the England national anthem but oh well, maybe next time.

Now I am back in England I am taking 3 or 4 weeks off training and just catching up with friends and family and doing a bit of celebrating.

I have hopefully attached the video of my 5.40m jump and a picture of me clearing it.

See you guys soon.

Max.
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