Gaisah gear up for victory in Birmingham

Ghana’s Igisious Gaisah aims to prove he is firmly on the comeback trail at the IAAF Indoor Permit meet in Birmingham Britain on Saturday night (19 February).

The 2006 Africa long jump champion has been struggling to regain his form following two years plagued with injury. He won the long jump with a 7.97 metre effort at the IAAF Indoor Permit meet in Karlsruhr Germany last Sunday.

With his travel bags packed at his Rotterdam flat in the Netherlands, Gaisah had a few minutes to spare for a short telephone interview before leaving for Birmingham. The enthusiasm in his voice was clear.

“I am excited about how my season is unfolding. There is a good chance I will return to the form I had in 2006 which is so far the best year of my career,” Gaisah told www.supersport.com.

“Already the 7.97m in Karlsruhr is my best indoor jump since 2006. My target is to break the eight metre barrier in Birmingham. That should prove I have fully recovered from the knee injury that kept me out of top flight actions for two years from 2007,” says the 2006 IAAF World Indoor long jump champion in Moscow Russia.

“I miss warm weather training in Africa. However, I needed the Rotterdam environment to get full treatment and rehabilitation, while also being able to travel to indoor and outdoor meets. The distances here are a relatively short compared to if I was based back in Kumasi Ghana,” Gaisah explained.

“My plan is to jump consistently between 8.20m and 8.30m. With that you never know I may improve on my lifetime best of 8.43m in August or September,” says Gaisah.

Then the interview abruptly came to an end. Gaisah’s transport to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport for the flight to London had arrived.