Germaine Mason (20 January 1983 – 20 April 2017) was a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n-born

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete competing in

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. In 2006, he switched sporting allegiance, and then represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. As a Great Britain competitor, he won the Silver Medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Career

Mason 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 The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

, 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 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) were held in the Budapest Arena, Hungary between March 5 and March 7, 2004. A total off 139 countries were re ...

. The medal was won jointly with Jaroslav Bába and Ştefan Vasilache. Mason was eligible to represent

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 World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

, in 2006. 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 Andrey Alexandrovich Silnov (russian: Андрей Александрович Сильнов; born 9 September 1984) is a Russian high jumper and the 2008 Olympic champion. Born in Shakhty, Rostov Oblast, he is 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) and weigh ...

with 2.36 m. It was Great Britain's first track and field medal of the games.

Death

Mason died in a motorbike accident on 20 April 2017 at the age of 34. Upon returning from a

soca Soca or SOCA may refer to: Places * Soča, a river in Slovenia and Italy * Soča, Bovec, Slovenia * Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, by ICAO code * Soca, a village in Banloc Commune, Timiș County, Romania * SoCa, Southern California Other u ...

party he was riding his motorbike when he crashed. His funeral was held at the Hagley Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

. His friend

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight- ...

was a

pallbearer A pallbearer is one of several participants who help carry the casket at a funeral. They may wear white gloves in order to prevent damaging the casket and to show respect to the deceased person. Some traditions distinguish between the roles of ...

and digged the grave of Mason.

Achievements

References

External links

Obituary
in

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

Marcus Williamson Marcus Williamson is a British writer, journalist and campaigner. As an obituarist for ''The Independent'' he has written obituaries of more than 300 subjects, including artists, poets, actors and inventors. Campaigns Phorm In 2009 the AIM-l ...

*
Official website

Management website
1983 births 2017 deaths Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican male high jumpers British male high jumpers Olympic male high jumpers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Jamaica Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Jamaica Pan American Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships athletes for Jamaica British Athletics Championships winners Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom Jamaican Seventh-day Adventists Road incident deaths in Jamaica Motorcycle road incident deaths Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games {{UK-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub