Damar Forbes

LONDON, England:

Jamaican long jumper Damar Forbes is a determined young man.

With just a few days to go before he opens his Olympic campaign here, the jumper has already chalked out clear objectives for himself; he wants to be the best Jamaican long jumper ever, an outcome that would see him displace his idol James Beckford.

Forbes, who failed to progress beyond the qualifying round at last year's IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea, after managing a best jump of 7.91m, at what was his first major senior championships, is looking to make a stronger impression here and has set his sights on establishing a new national record and unseating Beckford at the top of the Jamaican pile.

Beckford competed for Jamaica at three Olympic Games (1996, 2000 and 2004) and won a silver medal in 1996, in addition to silver medals at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, in 1995 and 2003. His best distance and the national record is currently set at 8.62m.

Forbes, who was born in St Ann before moving to Pittsburg at the age of seven, has a personal best of 8.23m, which he registered last year. He has so far gone 8.12m this season, but is expecting considerable improvements.

"James Beckford is the number one on the Jamaican all time list and no offence to him but I am looking to better that and be number one. He has shown me that Jamaicans can jump, we are not just sprinters and I'm here to show that it can happen again," said Forbes.

"Right now I'm very confident, my confidence level is very high and I think I can definitely bring home a medal," Forbes said.

"It would be very good for me and for the country if I'm able to medal here, I feel like we have been longing for a medal since James Beckford, and I have had a lot of support back home and I feel like getting a medal or advancing to the final would be a gesture to them to say thank you for being there and believing in me," Forbes added.