Injury inhibits Morgan’s performance

Carl Morgan (file photo)

Unable to execute up to standard due to injury and leaving Australia without a legal attempt the XXI Commonwealth Games, Cayman Islands long jumper Carl Morgan is hoping to be back to his best soon.

Morgan fouled his first two attempts at the Carrara Stadium on 10 April before aborting his final attempt. “I thought I was more than prepared to go out there and compete with some of the best in the world, but I guess I wasn’t,” he told CaymanSportsBuzz.com.

The 31-year-old tore the conjoint tendon in his lower abdomen earlier this year and felt he fully recovered. “I didn’t know until I got a scan a few days ago that the injury was more severe than I thought,” he said.

“I tried to push through it like any athlete would want to because this is the stage where you want to compete at and put out your best but I just couldn’t.”

Morgan, who was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony on 4 April, said he was able to run at a decent pace down the track but felt discomfort in his upper thigh into his abdomen, which he said hindered his ability to take off for the jumps.

“It’s very, very disappointing,” said the veteran of three Commonwealth Games. “I wake up early every morning to make sure I’m in the best shape possible to compete…and to know that I’ve flown so far, and I wanted to compete so badly and I wasn’t able to is disappointing.”

At prior Commonwealth Games, Morgan finished 14th in 2010 (Delhi) with 7.46m, and 21st four years later in Glasgow with 6.99m. He won a silver at the 2017 NatWest Island Games in Gotland, Sweden with a best mark of 7.11m. His lifetime best distance is 8.02m set in 2012, which he said he still hopes to do again before hanging up the spikes and transitioning fully into coaching.

He said medical staff has advised him that he should be back to full health in four to six weeks, and he plans to be back in competition for meets in May and June.

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