Dalton Grant

Dalton Grant (born April 8, 1966 in London ) is a former British high jumper who was among the world's best in the late 1980s and during the 1990s.

Career

Until 1993

Grant began his career with a seventh place and 2.10m at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. In 1987 he was seventh with 2.27 m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Liévin . At the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis two weeks later, he finished eighth with 2.28 m. After an eleventh place with 2.24 m at the European Indoor Championships in Budapest in 1988, he was seventh with 2.31 m at the Olympic Games in Seoul .

Grant won his first medal at the European Indoor Championships in The Hague in 1989 , when he lost to Dietmar Mögenburg in the jump-off after 2.33 m in regular jumping and three failed attempts at 2.35 m and won silver. Javier Sotomayor won the World Indoor Championships in Budapest with an indoor world record of 2.43 m. Behind Sotomayor, three jumpers crossed 2.35 m: Mögenburg won silver, Swede Patrik Sjöberg received bronze, and Grant was only fourth.

The Commonwealth Games took place in Auckland from late January to early February 1990 . In the high jump Clarence Saunders from Bermuda won with 2.36 m before Grant, who crossed 2.34 m. Four weeks later Grant was seventh with 2.24 m at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow. In the summer at the European Athletics Championships in Split , Grant was fourth with 2.31 m.

In 1991 Grant traveled with a height of 2.20 m to the European Athletics Cup , which he won with 2.30 m. At the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in 1991 , he climbed 2.31 m, one centimeter above his season best. He rose to a new British record of 2.36 m and was only fourth behind Charles Austin , Sotomayor and Hollis Conway . The British record was improved to 2.37 m in 1992 by Steve Smith .

At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​Grant failed to qualify. In 1993 he crossed 2.34 m at the European Indoor Championships in Toronto and was fourth behind Sotomayor, Sjöberg and Smith.

From 1994

At the European Indoor Championships in 1994 in Paris-Bercy, Grant made the highest jump of his career. He won gold with 2.37 meters after playing poker at 2.35 meters. The Frenchman Jean-Charles Gicquel had taken 2.35 m, whereupon Grant waived his outstanding attempts, which he used at 2.37 m. At the European Championships in Helsinki Grant and Gicquel were then together ninth with 2.25 m. Two and a half weeks after the European Championship final, the high jump final of the Commonwealth Games took place in Victoria . Steve Smith and the Australian Tim Forsyth fought an exciting duel for gold and silver with four rounds in the jump-off, which In the end Forsyth won. Grant was fifth with 2.28 m.

After an eighth place with 2.28 m at the 1995 World Indoor Championships , failure in qualifying at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, and a tenth place with 2.25 m at the 1997 World Indoor Championships , Grant traveled almost without preparation to the 1997 World Championships in Athens. In the qualification he increased his season high to 2.28 m, in the final he jumped the starting height of 2.32 m in the first attempt, but then failed three times at 2.35 m. Javier Sotomayor won with 2.37 m ahead of Artur Partyka and Forsyth, Dalton Grant was fourth.

Grant traveled to the 1998 European Championships in Budapest with a personal best of 2.28 m. With 2.34 m he won silver behind Artur Partyka. A month later, Grant won the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur with 2.31 m.

At the Commonwealth Games 2002 Grant tried again after many injuries to make a comeback and finished sixth with 2.15 m.

Dalton Grant is 1.86 m tall and weighed 76 kg during his playing days. During his career he often had the ability and the luck to skip the right heights in important competitions and to get good placements through a small number of failed attempts. At the 1997 World Championships, for example, he mastered the hitherto highest starting mark of 2.32 m.

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 2000 . Surbiton 2000 ISBN 1-899807-07-1
• Bob Phillips: Honor of Empire. Glory of Sport - The History of Athletics at The Commonwealth Games . Manchester 2000, ISBN 1-903158-09-5

Web links

• Dalton Grant in the database of World Athletics (English)