July 8, 2008

Windsor, ON - University of British Columbia high jump king Mike Mason has been named to the Canadian Olympic roster.

This past weekend Mason claimed the national title at the Track and Field Canadian Trials and this morning he was the lone male representative named to the Canadian team in the high jump.

Although Mason did not clear the automatic qualifying standard of 2.30m in an outdoor competition, he did clear that height earlier this season at an indoor meet, his victory at the trials combined with a number of leaps of 2.27m was more than enough to punch his ticket to his first Olympic Games.

The three-time defending NAIA Champion will now go head to head with some of the best in the world at the Bird's Nest in Beijing.

This may be Mason first trip to an Olympic Games but its not his first time competing on the international stage.

In early March Mason competed at the IAAF Indoor World Championships where he finished eighth with a jump of 2.27m. The victor that weekend was defending Olympic Champion Stefan Holm of Sweden who cleared the bar at 2.36m.

After spending one season at the University of Kentucky, the Nanoose Bay native returned to BC and has since dominated the NAIA as a Thunderbird. This past season was Mason's last as a T-Bird and he was recognized as UBC's male athlete of the year.

The Track and Field portion of the Games kick-off August 15th with the high jump qualifying rounds scheduled for the 17th and the finals set for the 19th.

The Canadian track and field team will hold a pre-Games training camp in Singapore beginning August 1. Athletes will fly from Singapore directly to Beijing four or five days before the start of their competition.