Brian Wellman and self-belief generally go hand in hand.

So when the 1995 world indoor triple jump champion began to question his ability halfway through the year, a fear existed that the 34-year-old had lost his swagger - an essential ingredient in top-level athletics.

Not true - far from it.

The proof in the pudding came on the night of July 21 at the CAC Track and Field Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala, when the veteran performer produced his first jump in excess of 17 metres in more than a year to win the gold medal.

The distance, 17.24 metres, was a meet record and gave Wellman the confidence that he needed to go to the World Championships in Edmonton. Sixth place there in adverse conditions, after a best effort of 16.81, has proved to be the springboard to a year in 2002 that he hopes will be highlighted by glory in Manchester, England, at the 17th Commonwealth Games.

“(The winning) was very significant,” he said, “I knew that was there and I knew more than that was there. I was looking to jump a foot or 30 cms farther. I felt I was in 17.50 shape even under the circumstances but to jump as far as I did in the first jump was a really good sign.”

The circumstances Wellman speaks of is a chronic knee problem that curtailed his efforts in Guatemala to the one jump. Thankfully, for Wellman, who is in Bermuda over the holiday season, his mechanics “clicked” first time up.

“It changed the outlook for the rest of my season,” he added. “It was frustrating that things weren't clicking and I was not able to do the things that I could do. So I was almost going to mail in the rest of this season and start to work 2002, sort out my knee situation and go from there.

“But after that I went to the Worlds with a little more confidence, but I didn't get many breaks.

“There were some really weird winds there. I don't know what was up at that stadium but the problem that I ran into every time I went up to jump, I had negative wind and everybody else had positive wind.

“I was just wishing for a tailwind that never showed up. I had a couple of fouls because I was just standing there and my 60 seconds ran out. The wind was blowing that hard in my face that it didn't make sense going down the runway.”

What Wellman did was significant enough for Track and Field News to rate him as the 10th-best triple jumper for 2001.

In the year-ending rankings released by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the former Arkansas star was ranked No 15 in the world.

The man he has to catch on both counts is Jonathan Edwards, of Britain, whose excellence has reached such dizzying heights that he has captured two world championships and an Olympic gold medal to go with the world record of 18.29 metres that he established in 1995.

“The other nine guys on that list, on any given day, I know I can beat,” Wellman said. “Once you have that confidence, realising that your competition isn't something impossible, you have a chance. I've beaten them all before, so therefore I need to concentrate on what I can do.

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