Chouhal aiming for eight-metre jump

Maltese sport has been strangely quiet these past few weeks. So much that you'd be hard pressed to believe that most athletes are entering what should be the most intense stage of their preparation for the Games of the Small States of Europe.

The weekend of April 3-4, however, saw some changes.

A plethora of new records were set in the pool underlining the improvement of swimmers like Kyle Scerri and Neil Agius.

And, as if not to let his sport be outdone by its aquatic rival, Rashid Chouhal achieved the most notable result of the current athletics' season when he set a new national mark of 7.71 metres in the long jump.

It would be easy to rationalise this record as being the by-product of the desire to make the squad for Andorra. But such judgment would be too hasty, not least because Chouhal had already achieved the Minimum Qualification Standard way back in January. Meaning that there must be other motivations.

Talking to Chouhal it emerges that there were two.

First of all, there was the intensity of the competition.

"The meet included a number of good quality foreign athletes," he said. "That makes a huge difference. Mentally you focus much more. Often in local meets, I am the only senior and have to compete against juniors. No disrespect to them, but there are times when I end up out-jumping them by two metres."

Given such a result, one would assume that Chouhal must be eagerly trying to compete abroad. A wry smile, however, indicates that a sore point has been touched upon.

"Naturally, I'd like to compete abroad," he said. "I have lined up something in Switzerland and perhaps Hungary or Italy. But I don't have any sponsors and have to fork everything out of my own pocket."

Wherever you go in Maltese sport, that seems to be a common theme and often it is only the athletes' inbuilt determination that allows them to progress.

Rashid is just one of the many local athletes who trains hard every day. Talk about training brings us to the second reason for his improvement.

As an all-rounder, he competed in various events without ever really imposing himself in any one of them. Which perhaps explains why it was way back in 2002 that he had set the previous long jump national record.

This year, he decided to narrow down his focus to just the long jump.

"I may occasionally take part in the sprints but my main objective is definitely the long jump," he said. "That is what I'm training for and that is why the jump meant so much for me. It shows that I'm on the right track."

So, how far does he think he can jump?

"During the meet, I had a couple of no-jumps where I just over-stepped the mark. On both occasions I asked them to measure the jump regardless and on both occasions they were over eight metres. Therefore, I know that I have it in me to jump that distance."

Few doubt his potential, yet he has to start nailing such big jumps on a regular basis.

"That's true. However, it is often also down to luck. But, as I said I know that I can do it. That is my ambition, to achieve the qualifying standards for the big events and not have to rely on wild cards."

In hindsight, there are two other reasons why Chouhal is doing better this year. Joining Zurrieq Wolves was a wise move as his new club has been "very supportive from day one."

Then there's his wife Antonella, a leading athlete in the shot put.

"If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't manage," he said. "She's very understanding and her support allows me to get into the right frame of mind."

With gold and a potential games record within his sight for Andorra, the future is looking bright for Chouhal. Yet, the feeling is that only that elusive eight-metre jump will satisfy this ambitious athlete.