It isn’t just those in Bermuda who are taking notice of young high jumper Sakari Famous.

Her record jump of 1.75 metres (5 feet, 83/4 inches) at the Russell E Blunt East Coast Invitational Track Meet earlier this month was better than the US national record of 1.74 in the 13-14 age group.

And even though the Bermuda teenager won’t be credited in the record books because she is not a US competitor, one reporter thought her deserving of coverage in the Durham, North Carolina Herald-Sun.

Under the headline “Almost Famous”, Dan E Way chronicled the youngster’s achievement: “In one amazing, spring-loaded leap that had shaped up as an improbably success, Sakari Famous of the tiny island of Bermuda achieved a very large milestone on Saturday, jumping higher than the US Track Association national record for her age group.”

The gold medal performance at the Durham County Memorial Stadium was also a Bermuda record and broke the 2003 meet record set by Durham Striders athlete Patience Coleman who went on to be an All-American and Atlantic Coast Conference champion high jumper for University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill.

After the 5-foot-7 Famous broke the record she jumped off the crash mat and ran off wildly, clapping her hands in jubilation.

“It’s great. There’s nothing to compare it to because it’s like the best thing ever to me,” Famous told the reporter.

She was disappointed her parents were unable to attend the meet and see her set the record, but she was able to reach her mother later by phone to share the good news.

“She screamed, and then my nana got a pan and started banging it in the background [in celebration],” Famous said.

The teenager already has two silver medals from the Carifta Games following second-place finishes in the Bahamas (1.65 metres) in 2013 and Martinique (1.60 metres) this year. And earlier this month she took fourth place in the 18-and-under age group at the Junior Central American and Caribbean Championships in Morelia, Mexico with a leap of 1.63 metres.

In North Carolina last weekend she soared to new heights, a classic case of mind over matter, the article stated. “I had difficulties before coming,” Famous revealed. “I was absolutely not jumping or making my heights, but my coach told me, ‘Oh, I see you’re getting all of your bad jumps out so you can jump better at Blunt’.”

The mild weather was another negative she turned into a positive. “I was getting a little scared because when I came the weather was cold, and sometimes I don’t really jump good in cold weather,” she said.

Then she failed to clear the record height in her first two attempts, experiencing some difficulty in her drive and holding her arch.

“It was like, ‘Oh my gosh, can I make it?’,” Famous recalled. “I know that everybody believes in me. My mom would be proud if I make it. My coach would be proud if I make it. I said, ‘I need to calm myself’.”

Famous told The Royal Gazette her goal is to jump 1.8 metres in the coming year and she has an ambitious goal of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

“I would like to do even bigger track meets than Carifta and the Russell E Blunt,” she said.

Pacers head coach Cal Simons describes the talented youngster as a “very gifted young lady” who could have jumped 1.76 or 1.77, such was the ease with which she cleared the bar.

“She listens. She’s a coach’s dream because she’s very receptive taking in information, and she’s a bright girl,” Simons stated. “She can visualise it, she can actualise it, and 90 percent of the time makes the jump.”

Upon the team’s return, Simons added: “If she continues to work on her mechanics the sky is the limit.

“A lot of credit should go to the national high jump coach Rohaan Simons who has worked with her the last year and a half. She started with the Pacers in the 11-12 girls and was a naturally gifted high jumper then.”

Famous has been to three East Coast Invitational meets since joining the Pacers and says the exposure has helped her. “I would like to thank coach Cal Simons and the Pacers for giving athletes an opportunity to go away and compete in meets, it gives us experience and hopes of achieving bigger goals when we go away,” she said.