Jah-Nhai Perinchief left his imprint on the global stage as an emerging star of triple jump after finishing a sensational fifth at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, yesterday.

The 24-year-old former high jumper, who was making his maiden appearance at this level after a meteoric rise in the “hop, skip and jump” inside the past 12 months yielded a succession of personal bests, leapt to a new indoor farthest in the Stark Arena with an effort of 16.95 metres (55ft 7¼in) on his fourth attempt.

Among those praising the achievement of the recently crowned Male Athlete of the Year for 2021 was mentor and former world indoor champion Brian Wellman.

“I think it’s a great start at his first world championship competition,” said Wellman, who put Bermuda on the map at this level 27 years ago in Barcelona, having finished fifth in the Olympic Games at the same venue in 1992.

“It’s the first time he’s competed with basically all of the best jumpers in the world at any given point, and to be in the top five in the world is legit.

“The big thing that I always like about Jah-Nhai is that he performs his best when it counts.

“So that’s his lifetime indoor personal record at the World Indoors when it counted!”

Perinchief, who was the second-youngest in the 12-man field, fouled on three of his six attempts.

His remaining legal jumps were 16.36 and 16.59, achieved either side of his new indoor best, which eclipsed the 16.91 set on the way to victory last month at the Tyson Invitational meet in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the world-leading jump at the time.

“He probably would have liked to jump 17.20 and figured he had the ability to probably podium,” Wellman added. “But you can’t complain too much about going there and doing your season’s and lifetime best in a situation when it counted.

“You definitely have to take the good with the bad. You have to sit back and analyse what you did and figure how you get better from there.”

Freddie Evans, the Bermuda National Athletics Association president, also hailed Perinchief’s exploits.

“Jah-Nhai continues to make a name for himself while carrying the banner of Bermuda,” he said.

“We are just extremely proud he was able to get there, represent Bermuda and made it to fifth in the World Indoors.

“The guy was fifth at the 2022 World Indoor Championships, and nobody will ever be able to take that from him.

“He just missed out on a medal. But there’s no reason not to celebrate this young man’s success, and Bermuda should be extremely proud.

“For a young man to emerge from our shores, as small as we are, and to enter the world stage and be recognised in the top five of an event is magnificent and outstanding.”

Perinchief was unavailable for comment as he felt under the weather after his event, a family source told The Royal Gazette.

Cuban Lázaro Martínez won the gold medal with a leap of 17.64, the best in the world this year, with Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo (17.46) and American Donald Scott (17.21) securing the silver and bronze respectively.