A fairytale, a dream fulfilled

This is a fairytale finish to my track career. Today i made history. I finished 7th in National Inter-School Track and Field Championship Long Jump event. I am delighted. I finally fulfilled my dream of finishing in the top 8. After 6 years of training, i have achieved something. This means so much to me.

A-Boys Long Jump Final
1) Goh Eng Wei RJC 6.66 9pts
2) Chan Wei Hao HCI 6.56 7pts
3) Chew Han Wei RJC 6.40 6pts
4) Aran Atsuo Shanmugaratnam HCI 6.19 5pts
5) Chew Guan Yu HCI 6.18 4pts
6) Chua Wee Chao Jonathan MI 6.14 3pts
7) Louis Chong VJC 6.06 2pts
8) Joseph Ting VJC 6.00 1pt

Previous years, i have been very unlucky but nothing was going to stop me this year. I woke up in the morning feeling good except for a bit of a sore throat. My dad has passed his disease to me again! But i was not to be deterred. After all, i didn't want 6 years of training to go to waste. I slept from 10pm to 9am and was refreshed. I left home at 11am and reach choa chu kang stadium at 12 noon. The girls long jump final was still in progress. However, things didn't exactly go our way as Jeo, who was expected to be the champion, got 4th. It was a wasted opportunity and i feel sad for her. Phy got 5th while Celeste just missed out on top 8, finishing 9th. After that, i went to rest in the badminton court.
At around 2.45pm, Joseph and i went to warm up. Shamin could not jump today as he had pulled his hamstring in the National Juniors before the common test week. I could understand how he felt as i had pulled my hamstring at a similar time last year.
Then, it was time to jump. The weather was bad. The head wind was really strong. It was definitely not favourable to jump. I was the 2nd jumper. My first jump was okay. A distance of 5.99m, which could have been better if not for poor landing. Then my back pain began to set in. I realised that my poor landing was attributed to my back pain. I couldn't really bend my back well. Most of the time, i would force myself down too quickly, minimising the distance i would jump. 2nd jump - Fault, 3rd jump - 5.62m!!!. After the first 3 jumps, i was 8th, meaning for the last 3 jumps, i would jump first. Joseph was 7th with a distance of 6m. 4th jump - 5.72m!!!, 5th jump - 5.91m!!! Finally it was the last jump. Someone was saying that it will be his final year so he will take his own sweet time for his final jump. This gave me the extra drive. These 6 years of training, i have seen my juniors grow. I have also seen my seniors "retire". Now it will be my final jump of my track career in National Inter-School Track and Field Championship. It's time for me to "retire". I stepped forward to the running lane. =========[] I closed my eyes and enjoyed this very last moment. I really wished that i could jump my personal best which was 6.3m or even my target 6.5m. This would have earned my coach and me 4th or even 3rd place, bronze medal position. Then, i started my run-up and landed. It was a poor landing again. The distance was 6.06m but i was satisfied. After the rest finished their jumps, Joseph and i thanked the officials and took photos with the big board which could display our distances. We also took photos with our dear coach Miss Yu at the long jump pit.
I would like to thank everyone who sent messages to encourage me. Anil, Subra, Nazri, Nick, Ben Tay, Yong Cheng, Han Wei. I appreciate the support from those who came all the way from school to choa chu kang stadium to watch my event. Li Hwa. My seniors who graduated last year still showed great interest in the sport. They messaged me and asked about the results. Yuan Hong, Jian Feng. And Shaun Chook who came down to take photos of every moments. Thanks you all. And the rest of the jumps team. Joseph, Shamin, Phy, Celeste, Jeolinita.
Now, i have "retired". But i will continue to show support to the rest of the Track and Field team for the next 2 weeks by going down to watch and cheer them on. All the best to them and may wishes come true. Alright, come on ah!