Arantxa King?s athletics goals are growing like her jumping prowess ? by leaps and bounds.

More confident than ever now ? what with two international titles to her name in less than a fortnight ? the Bermudian is setting her sights on even greater long-jumping landmarks: a new distance of 21 feet beckoning in the sandpit.

It probably won?t be too long before the 15-year-old athletic sensation has to yet again reset the bar as she has already leapt 6.39 metres which is just short of the metric equivalent to 21 feet.

After last weekend, when the near-six-footer added the Pan American Junior Athletics gold medal to her IAAF World Youth Championships title, she has certainly become more aware of just how good she is.

In Morocco, she was pitted against rivals aged 15-17 for the World Youth meet but in Windsor, Canada, the age range was wider as the Pan Am Juniors is an Under-20 competition.

The girls there were older and maybe even stronger but none could jump further than the lithe talent who resides in Medford, Massachusetts ? 6.21 metres on her third of six attempts enough to determine the gold?s destination.

?It was a mixture of relief and excitement. I was so surprised. I didn?t really want to go to Pan Ams because I figured there would be 18 and 19-year-olds there so I was really surprised I won,? she said of her pre-competition nerves.

Compounding her natural adolescent jitters was the fact that after success in Marrakesh she took time off to heal and rebound from injury.

?I was kinda nervous because after you jump your best and win the gold medal at the Worlds it?s hard to do better. Also I took a week off training because my legs were hurting and I was resting so I didn?t have much time to train.

?I didn?t know what to expect or how I would do because I couldn?t tell how I was feeling because I wasn?t able to practise,? she explained.

After the first three jumps, only the top eight out of the 17 competitors advanced and were permitted three more jumps. Leading at that point, King had the luxury of watching all her rivals jump before her in the last three rounds.

Finally, before she had time to seriously absorb what had happened, it was over ? and once again she was atop the podium, a shiny token of success dangling from her neck.

?It?s indescribable. It feels weird competing against girls who are much older and beating them. It?s shocking,? admitted King who has smashed her long jump personal best (PB) at least five times in the last two months.

Buoyed by these recent developments ? as well as the accolade of Gatorade female Player of the Year for Massachusetts in track and field, qualification for next year?s Commonwealth Games and near-qualification for the IAAF World Championships ? she is eager to take herself and Bermuda on bigger and better adventures.

?I feel confident in the long jump and I?m going to do a lot more training during the off-season to help me develop even further,? she disclosed, adding that she is ready to concentrate on the triple jump too.

?I would never have guessed I could have qualified for any of those big meets or come close to even qualifying this young. I was thinking that?s for people whose life is track and field and that?s all they do professionally.?

Now she knows better. It?s for her too.

And while athletics may not be all this high-school student does at the moment, she does it pretty good.