SANTO DOMINGO -- Some may say not before time, others, who prefer to remember just what he has achieved, may shed a metaphorical tear, but whichever camp you are from, Brian Wellman's retirement from a sport he has embraced for more than a decade is indeed a sad moment.

What is more sad is the manner in which the decision came about.

The Island triple jumper, who won the World Indoor Championship in 1995, pulled out of the competition at the Pan-Am Games on Saturday night after just three jumps, one of which was a no jump.

Prior to the event at the Olympic Stadium, Wellman had said he was raring to go but the truth is the 36-year-old can no longer compete with those many years his junior.

His first jump measured 14.60 metres, his second ended almost before it began and his third - 15.31 - marked his last in the international arena.

Remarkably chatty immediately after calling it a day, Wellman gave a frank assessment of the position he had found himself in.

“I'm basically done,” he said. “That's it in a nutshell.

“That performance, that distance . . . under the worst circumstances I should be able to jump far enough to get into the final. That's the bottom line.

“I have been in situations before in my career where I was injured or hurt and willed myself to go that far . . . it's not there.”

Wellman said he had felt fine coming into the event.

“Basically, I just drew on the fact that I had been there before and I could pull it out,” he said. “I have been there before, been injured, not trained the way I would have liked, doing rehab stuff, and still been able to put one together.

“It happened to me in ‘91 at the CACs. It was a depressed season, in terms of not jumping how I'd like to, went there, not totally focused, and jumped 17.26 metres, went to the Worlds, made the finals and got sixth at the World Championships. I have done that through my whole career. Mentally, I have been a very strong person, I have willed myself to do things.”

Wellman, though, preferred to concentrate on what he had achieved and not how it had come to an end.

“I made a promise to myself when I started this career not to look back and say ‘what if?',” he said. “If you had told me when I first got into jumping I was going to be a World Indoor champion I would have said ‘awesome'.”

Despite those feats, Wellman said he felt a little under-appreciated at times.

“To some degree, I don't think a lot of Bermudians understand what I have achieved,” he said. “A lot of the things I have done, like this, has been off in a foreign land.

“Fortunately, the World Indoors happened to be on TV and people could see it, but seeing it live and being there is another matter.

“I was ranked in the top ten in the world 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97 . . . to what extent people appreciate that, I don't know.

“It's sad to say, but I'll probably get my roses after I'm dead.”

Yoandry Betanzo of Cuba took the gold on Saturday with a season's best effort of 17.26 metres. Silver went to Jadel Gregorio of Brazil with 17.03, while Yoelvis Quesada took bronze with a jump of 16.78, another season's best.