Nathan Douglas – Triple Jump

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Nathan was born and brought up in Oxford. At 7 years old he was encouraged to join Oxford City Athletics Club, where his sporting career began. Nathan turned down the chance to play football at a young age due to his love for Athletics.

Nathan's progress "out of the pack" of promising British triple jumpers in 2004 was only surprising to those who weren’t close to him. In adding 65cms to his personal best he was transformed from being an unknown in the GB under 23 team to becoming the most unexpected member of the Olympic squad.

A former AAA U23 and U20 champion, U23 team captain and twice English Schools’ winner, Nathan was the British number five heading into 2004. Nathan began his season as usual at the Loughborough International in June and there set a new personal best of 16.49m. After only three more meets he went to the AAA's hoping to snatch one of the three Olympic places. Nathan set two new PB’s during the competition, firstly a 16.56m jump in round four before jumping a sensational 16.95m in the final round, matching the Olympic qualifying standard and guaranteeing his place on the plane to Athens.

 Following a fine sixth place finish in the Norwich Union London GP with 16.72m, Nathan went to the Olympics in Athens. This was to be his GB senior debut, he jumped a commendable 16.84m for 13th in the qualifying round; missing a spot in the final by just 7cms and in the process defeated thirteen jumpers who had exceeded 17m.

After a tough period of winter training Nathan had a successful 2005 Indoor season, he was the only GB Athlete to make the Triple Jump final at the European Indoors in Madrid, just missing out on a medal in 4^th place with a jump of 16.89m. Nathan was presented with the ‘Best Male Champion’ award for his performance at the 2005 Indoor AAA’s Competition by the AAA’s of England.

The outdoor season saw Nathan set a string of personal bests and become one of the best triple jumpers in the world. He jumped 17.11m in Bratislava early June, then 17.27m in Lausanne early July. By mid-July at the AAA’s & World Championship Trials in Manchester Nathan was in great from setting two further personal bests of 17.36m and 17.64m. This ranked Nathan as third in the World in 2005, taking him from being good International standard to top world-class. He had also secured his place on the GB team for the World Champs in Helsinki.

At the last meet before the championships, Nathan jumped well under the pressure of a huge home crowd at the Norwich Union London Grand Prix, winning with a distance of 17.32m.

In Helsinki the first round of the triple jump was postponed due to dramatic storms. Nathan was unable to find his recent form and just missed out on a place in the final, jumping 16.53m. He was disappointed after such a successful season, but vowed to put it behind him and look forward. He returned to the UK and jumped just past the 17m mark for 6^th place at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Sheffield at the end of August.

In 2006, Nathan started his indoor season with a number of winning jumps. First a jump of 16.43m in Fana, then a jump of 16.55m gaining Gold at the AAA’s in Sheffield. Besides setting a new indoor PB with a jump of 17.01m, Nathan’s superb jump saw him to the final at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow. In the final he increased his indoor PB to 17.05m. Nathan also started his outdoor season on top form, with a jump of 17.26m at the Grand Prix in Eugene and then 17.42m in Geneva in May. Throughout the season Nathan’s brilliant performance continued which resulted in him gaining Silver at the AAA Championships in Manchester with a jump of 16.99m and then a Silver medal at the European Championships where he jumped 17.21m.

Nathan started 2007 with an indoor best of 17.14 for 2nd in Stuttgart and improved that to 17.19 to win the UK title. Then he had a superb competition to take the silver medal at the European Indoors with a series of 17.06, 17.22, 17.47, x, 17.41, x. He started the outdoor season in fine form with 2nd at 17.12 in Glasgow and 17.18 for 4th in Oslo but he suffered a serious hamstring injury when 5th with 17.11w at Madrid in July, causing him to miss the World Championships in Osaka.

Despite this setback Nathan is now well on the road to full fitness again and as part of his recovery has already competed in 2008 at the UK Indoor Championships where he finished second with a jump of 16.72. He is currently working hard on his continued rehabilitation to full fitness and is looking forward to the Olympic Games in Beijing this August.

Nathan is a sports science graduate of Loughborough University and is now based in Birmingham where he is coached by Ted King. Nathan is sponsored by Nike.

February 2008