Jah-Nhai Perinchief says it is an honour and blessing to have the opportunity to showcase his talents at the upcoming World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Bermudian triple jumper is poised to make his debut at the event featuring the world’s elite athletes to be held at the Stark Arena from March 18 to 20.

Perinchief did not meet the qualifying standard of 17.10 metres but was granted a spot by World Athletics based on a string of recent impressive performances competing on the United States indoor circuit.

“I’m honoured and blessed,” he told The Royal Gazette. “My jumps have been rewarded, so that’s good.

“My main goal is to go out there and just compete; execute, have fun and let the marks come.”Perinchief, who has the fifth-longest jump in the world for the year so far of 16.91 and is 22nd in the world rankings, has his work cut out but is optimistic he can rise to the occasion.“It’s going to be the best of the best in the world, and I usually jump better with more competition, so I think that’s going to play a favour to me,” he added.

“I just have to stay within myself and not get too excited, not get nervous. That usually doesn’t happen for me, which is good.

“I just need to stay within myself and go have fun. That’s what coach Travis Geopfert always tells me; stay relaxed and have fun.

“That’s worked so far, so I don’t think I need to do anything different because of the type of meet it is. Just go in and execute and I have a great coach, great staff and a great support team.

“They are obviously making sure I’m ready, making sure I get out there early enough to acclimatise and all that type of stuff.”

Perinchief’s support team also includes compatriot and former world indoor triple jump champion and meet record holder, Brian Wellman.

“I have a great mentor in Brian Wellman who is giving me some pointers and stuff,” he added.

“He was an indoor champion and record holder so he knows what he is talking about. Him and my coach are pretty in sync when it comes to new stuff for me.

“This week we will do some preparation and just make sure that I’m fine tuned to the run and jump. Keep it that simple.”

Wellman, who won gold with a record jump of 17.72 at the 1994 World Indoor Championships in Barcelona, Spain, and bronze two years prior in Toronto, Canada, has high expectations for Perinchief.

“It should be good and I think he should make the finals,” Wellman said.

“That would be the pretty standard scenario and if he puts one together could probably get on the podium.

“The aim is to go there and put together a jump that he has been working on, basically things that have been happening in training and sporadically in a meet, just trying to put it all back together.

“I hope he can basically go in there and execute what he has been focusing on. If he does that, then the rest will basically take care of itself.”

Perinchief is going into the championships with plenty of momentum having set a meet record en route to victory on the US indoor circuit in Fayetteville, Arkansas, last month.

He jumped 16.84 on his first effort at the Arkansas Qualifier at the Randal Tyson Track Centre to eclipse the previous four-year record by nearly a foot.

That display followed close on the heels of his victory at the Tyson Invitational athletics meet last month, also held in Fayetteville, after producing an indoor personal best of 16.91 then the world-leading distance for 2022.

He also finished runner-up on his professional debut competing at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, New York, last month with an indoor best of 16.55, which he has since improved.

Wellman is delighted to see the 24-year-old making inroads towards his goals.

“I think it’s part of the plan stepping in the direction we both hoped to get to in terms of qualifying for World Indoor Championships,” he said.

“I think this is par for the course and on course for what we plan on doing, and part of getting to where he wants to get to.”