Brian Raats sets sights on breaking African high-jump record

The 20-year-old Olympian is aiming to surpass the 2.38m mark set by the late Jacques Freitag in Oudtshoorn, South Africa, back in 2005. 

Raats, who made his Olympic debut in Paris and finished 12th with a jump of 2.17m at the Stade de France and currently boasts a personal best of 2.25m, wants to claim the continental record and cement his place in history. 

"I want to break Jacques Freitag's African record that stands at 2.39m [Ed's note: the official record is 2.38m], so I want to jump 2.40," said Raats.

"I've been doing great in training, so I feel great, and I've never been in better shape than I have this off-season and going into the season, so I feel way better than I did last off-season and this season was one of my best ever.

"So next year it's going to be better, but the minimum I want is a medal at World Championships – that's the goal, and that's what's going to happen."

Raats believes he accomplished his goal of reaching the Olympic final, even though he finished in last place, while competing at a sold-out Stade de France alongside some of the sport's biggest names provided him with invaluable lessons.

"I will say, obviously everyone wants to achieve better – when you set yourself a goal, and every time that goal gets higher, so my goal was to make the Olympics, and I did it, and then my goal was to make the [high-jump] final, and I did it.

"The competition is so high, the stadium is so full, and you feel the pressure – it's not like, if someone can tell you they don't feel the pressure, they are lying because, honestly, the pressure you feel when you walk into that stadium, it's an insane feeling.

"So I would say I achieved my goals that I wanted to at the Olympics, but I know the next goals are even higher for the next year."

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