JCB-sponsored triple jumper Ben Williams is celebrating after he was named in the Team England squad for this summer’s Commonwealth Games.
Ben will be going for gold at the Birmingham Games in the first weekend of August, after securing his place with a jump of 16.82 metres earlier this month – the fourth best leap of his career. His latest appearance comes after he represented Team GB at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Ben has been sponsored by JCB since 2019, and said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be representing England at our home Commonwealth Games. I am feeling in great form and relishing the prospect of competing in front of a big crowd on home turf. I thrive on the atmosphere of large competitions, and this is one of the biggest in the world.”
Ben, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, came to the sport after watching Jonathan Edwards on TV win gold at the Sydney Olympics. 27 years later, Edwards still holds the world triple jump record of 18.29 metres.
Ben missed the 2018 Commonwealth Games due to knee surgery, and almost quit the sport entirely in 2019 as he battled to balance the need to earn money with the demands of training as an elite athlete.
“If JCB had not stepped in to help with sponsorship I doubt would have been able to continue representing my country at the sport I love,” he continued. “It is thanks to that support from JCB that I have been able to train full time as a triple jumper which has helped my form massively. I go into the Commonwealth Games as a medal contender which is a fantastic position to be in.”
Ben’s best jump of 17.27 metres came in August 2019 – almost the length of a double decker bus. Guyana’s Troy Doris secured the gold medal at the last Commonwealth Games with a jump of 16.88 metres, so fingers crossed for our lad.
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