Germaine Mason (20 January 1983 – 20 April 2017) was a Jamaican-born track and field athlete competing in high jump. In 2006, he switched sporting allegiance, and then represented Great Britain. As a Great Britain competitor, he won the Silver Medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's athletics | ||
Representing  Great Britain
| ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
2008 Beijing | High jump |
Representing  Jamaica
| ||
| World Junior Championships | ||
|
2000 Chile | High jump |
 |
2002 Kingston | High jump |
| World Indoor Championships | ||
|
2004 Budapest | High jump |
| Pan American Games | ||
 |
2003 Santo Domingo | High jump |
| CAC Junior Championships (U20) | ||
|
2002 Bridgetown | High jump |
|
2000 San Juan | High jump |
| CARIFTA Games Junior (U20) | ||
|
2000 St. George's | High jump |
|
2002 Nassau | High jump |
| CARIFTA Games Youth (U17) | ||
|
1999 Fort-de-France | High jump |
Career
editMason won silver and bronze medals at the World Junior Championships in 2000 and 2002 respectively, the latter event held in his hometown of Kingston. His first medal at senior level came at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, when he won a gold medal, having achieved a personal best jump of 2.34 metres. He finished fifth at the World Championships the same year.
The following seasons saw him drop to 2.25 m (2004) and 2.27 m (2005), but 2.25 m was enough to win a bronze medal at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships. The medal was won jointly with Jaroslav Bába and Ştefan Vasilache.
Mason was eligible to represent Great Britain because his father David was born in London. Mason's mother persuaded him to switch allegiance, and Mason's change in nationality was ratified by athletics' governing body, the IAAF, in 2006.[1]
Mason won a silver medal for Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics on 19 August 2008. He equalled his personal best of 2.34 m, beaten only by Russia's Andrey Silnov with 2.36 m. It was Great Britain's first track and field medal of the games.[2]
Death
editMason died in a motorbike accident on 20 April 2017 at the age of 34. Upon returning from a soca party he was riding his motorbike when he crashed.[3] His funeral was held at the Hagley Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kingston, Jamaica. His friend Usain Bolt was a pallbearer and dug the grave of Mason.[4][5]
Achievements
editReferences
edit- ^ Germain Mason Archived 28 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-02-01.
- ^ Staff; agencies (19 August 2008). "Olympics: Britain's Mason takes high jump silver". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
- ^ Keogh, Frank (20 April 2017). "Germaine Mason: Former GB high jumper, 34, dies in Jamaica motorbike crash". bbc.com. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ^ Raynor, Kayon. "Friend's death hangs heavy over Bolt's final Jamaica run". Reuters. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ "Usain Bolt Broke Down in Tears at the Funeral of High Jumper Germaine Mason". BET. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
External links
edit- Obituary in The Independent by Marcus Williamson
- Germaine Mason at World Athletics
- Official website Archived 25 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- Management website
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