AS BRITAIN’S TOP TRIPLE JUMPER IN 2017, NATHAN FOX BELIEVES HE HAS MUCH MORE TO GIVE AND IS HOPING TO PROVE IT AT THE GOLD COAST GAMES
THE MESSAGE ‘Comfort is the poison’ blazed from the back of the stage and really resonated with Nathan Fox.The triple jumper, watching comedian Chris Rock during his recent tour, knew how important it could be to remember those words.
“It was really poignant to me and it stuck out, because it’s relevant to any field, any sector, anything that you do – the moment you get comfortable is the moment that someone can come and overtake you,” says the 27-year-old. “I’ve definitely fallen victim to becoming comfortable in the past and that’s just a gentle reminder that you should never get that way.
“Even if you’re No.1 in the country, so what? You’re not number one in Europe or the world yet, so you’ve always got to keep pushing. Everyone is always coming for the person at the top so if you’re resting they’re eventually going to surpass you.”
There has been no slacking from Fox during the past few months, that’s for sure. Keen to build on his senior GB debut at the IAAF World Championships in London last summer, the Shaftesbury Barnet Harrier has been using the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Australia as further motivation as he looks to make the most of being injury-free and in form.
Fox had been one of Britain’s top rising triple jump talents, setting the national under-15 record of 14.11m – a mark that still stands – as a 14-year-old in 2005 and placing fifth at the European Youth Olympics in 2007.
However, just a year later he was hit with the first of two serious injuries which would drastically derail his transition from the junior to senior ranks.
His senior major comeback came at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where he placed sixth for England. Now, however, he’s going for gold.
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