As he prepares to head into action at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, triple jumper Jah-Nhai Perinchief wishes he wasn’t the only Bermudian taking part in the event.

Perinchief starts his quest for a medal in a field of 18 triple jumpers today, with the best 12 to qualify for the final. He feels someone like middle-distance runner Dage Minors could go far. Minors is competing in Europe until the end of this month.

The 25-year-old did not qualify for the final in Oregon last year, and is looking to correct that. He fine-tuned for the World Championships at the Ed Murphy Classic in Memphis, where he finished with a season’s best of 16.85 metres, behind American Donald Scott who jumped 16.94.

Competition is tough in Budapest, with Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo, the gold medal-winner from Oregon, back to defend his title. Also there is Zhu Yaming, the silver medal-winner from last year.

Perinchief has been in Budapest since August 11 and that afforded him time to work on his jumps.

“I definitely wish I had a team-mate out here just because it’s always fun,’’ Perinchief said.

“My boy Dage [Minors] is working very hard upping his rankings, consistently working hard. I want to give a shoutout to him. We have too much talent back home that needs to be exposed and pushed through the next level. We have talent that can take us beyond that small island. I always want to be an inspiration for that coming for these meets.

“I’ve been here before, there is nothing I haven't done. My first world indoors I came fifth; outdoors last year I didn't make the final, so I don’t want that feeling again. Right now I am focused on executing my jumps perfectly, competing, treating the preliminaries like the final.

“Hopefully I could make one jump, get automatic qualification for the final. In the final, I have nothing to lose.”