As he prepares for his maiden appearance at the Olympics, triple jumper Jah-Nhai Perinchief is feeling in great shape with no injury worries.

Perinchief gets his first taste of action at the biggest sporting event in the world when he goes into the men’s triple jump qualification tomorrow. Should he progress, he will be one of the those lining up in the final on Friday.

“I feel great, I’m healthy, unlike in the past, I can actually say I’m going into an event very healthy and confident,’’ Perinchief said.

“It’s been difficult trying to compete at a higher level while also dealing with injuries, which have seen me miss out on training.

“The more training sessions you can get in, the more consistent you’ll be and the better you’ll be.

“I have to give a shout-out to Craig Brown from Apex Physio; he’s played a big part in helping me and my coach figure out what my body needs.

“Bakari Simons has also helped me in the latter part, with little things I can do to stay healthy as well.”

The 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medal-winner, who is ranked 23rd out of the 32 competitors, is focused on getting through the initial stages of the competition.

“I’m taking it one jump at a time. I’ve to get through the qualifying rounds first, so I’m going to focus on that,’’ he said.

“I’m going to treat it like Commonwealth Games; I didn’t go into that with high expectations. I generally didn’t know how I was going to do due to injuries, but I came out and did way better than expected.

“I feel like with no injuries now I should be able to do the same thing. All I’m telling myself is, don’t think about it, just go out there, hop, step and jump.”

Since his qualification based on the World Athletics rankings at the beginning of July, the Bermudian has been working hard with his coach, Travis Geopfert.

“It was more of a relief for my coach as well because he was able to know how to structure training, leading up to the Olympics,” Perinchief said.

“We have a pretty decent group, so it’s easy to have a lot of different moving pieces at once. As soon as we found out that I had qualified, we eased back off training and then we got back into it, just to get some rest from the heavy competition that we did.”

Since his arrival in the French capital, the 26-year-old has been a picture of concentration and focus.

“There could be distractions but I’m pretty focused,’’ he said. “I have a group out here, not just from Bermuda. My coach has eight athletes, we’re all in a group chat, it’s easy to get us all together. It feels like practice, it doesn't feel like we’re at the Olympics.”

Bermuda’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony is drawing a lot of inspiration from the legendary Brian Wellman. The 56-year-old competed at four Olympic Games, Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

An indoor world champion in 1995, when he leapt 17.72 metres, a championship record at the time, Wellman is one of only five Bermudian athletes to achieve top-six finishes at the Olympics, with the others being Dame Flora Duffy, Clarence Hill, Peter Bromby and Lee White. He was fifth in 1992 and sixth in 1996, while Duffy won gold in Tokyo before she finished fifth in Paris. Hill won Bermuda’s first medal, a bronze in boxing in 1976, and sailors Bromby and White were fourth in the Star class at the Sydney Games in 2000.

“Wellman plays a big part, I appreciate him very much,” Perinchief said. “He gives great insight into triple jump, stuff I just haven’t learnt, and he’s able to give me that knowledge.

“He is one of the best ever in the event, not just in Bermuda, but throughout the world. He’s able to give me little cues that I probably wouldn’t have thought about, and it makes stuff happen easier for me, so he’s been a tremendous help.”

• Additional reporting by Ross Clarke