Germaine Mason
{{Short description|Jamaican-British athlete (1983–2017)}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{MedalTableTop
|image = Germaine_Mason.jpg
|medals=
{{Medal|Sport|Men's athletics}}
{{Medal|Country|{{GBR2}}}}
{{Medal|Competition|Olympic Games}}
{{Medal|Silver|2008 Beijing|High jump}}
{{Medal|Country|{{JAM}}}}
{{Medal|Competition|World Junior Championships}}
{{Medal|Silver|2000 Chile|High jump}}
{{Medal|Bronze|2002 Kingston|High jump}}
{{Medal|Competition|World Indoor Championships}}
{{Medal|Bronze|2004 Budapest|High jump}}
{{Medal|Competition|Pan American Games}}
{{Medal|Gold|2003 Santo Domingo|High jump}}
{{Medal|Competition|CAC Junior Championships (U20)}}
{{Medal|Gold|2002 Bridgetown|High jump}}
{{Medal|Gold|2000 San Juan|High jump}}
{{Medal|Competition|CARIFTA Games
Junior (U20)}}
{{Medal|Gold|2000 St. George's|High jump}}
{{Medal|Silver|2002 Nassau|High jump}}
{{Medal|Competition|CARIFTA Games
Youth (U17)}}
{{Medal|Gold|1999 Fort-de-France|High jump}}
}}
Germaine Mason (20 January 1983 – 20 April 2017) was a Jamaican-born track and field athlete competing in high jump. In 2006, he switched sporting allegiance, and then represented Great Britain. 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 in Santo Domingo, 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 medal was won jointly with Jaroslav Bába and Ştefan Vasilache.
Mason was eligible to represent Great Britain 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, in 2006.[https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/germaine-mason-1.html Germain Mason] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028070302/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/germaine-mason-1.html |date=28 October 2014 }}. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-02-01.
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 with 2.36 m. It was Great Britain's first track and field medal of the games.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/aug/19/olympics2008.olympicsathletics4|title=Olympics: Britain's Mason takes high jump silver|last1=Staff|last2=agencies|date=19 August 2008|access-date=22 April 2017|newspaper=The Guardian}}
Death
Mason died in a motorbike accident on 20 April 2017 at the age of 34. Upon returning from a soca party he was riding his motorbike when he crashed.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/39657369|title=Germaine Mason: Former GB high jumper, 34, dies in Jamaica motorbike crash|last=Keogh|first=Frank|date=20 April 2017|website=bbc.com|access-date=20 April 2017}}
His funeral was held at the Hagley Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kingston, Jamaica. His friend Usain Bolt was a pallbearer and dug the grave of Mason.{{Cite web|url=https://reuters.com/article/csports-us-athletics-bolt-idCAKBN18Z1UC-OCASP|title=Friend's death hangs heavy over Bolt's final Jamaica run|last=Raynor|first=Kayon|website=Reuters|access-date=2023-06-20}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bet.com/article/yzuz40/usain-bolt-broke-down-in-tears-at-germaine-mason-s-funeral|title=Usain Bolt Broke Down in Tears at the Funeral of High Jumper Germaine Mason|date=2017-05-22|website=BET|access-date=2023-06-20}}
Achievements
| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes|class=wikitable style="text-align:center; font-size: 90%;}} |
| bgcolor="#eeeeee" colspan="6"|Representing {{JAM}} |
|---|
| 1999
|Fort-de-France, Martinique |bgcolor="gold"|1st |high jump |2.03 m |
| rowspan=3|2000
|St. George's, Grenada, Grenada |bgcolor="gold"|1st |high jump |2.12 m |
| CAC Junior Championships (U20)
|bgcolor="gold"|1st |high jump |2.15 m |
| World Junior Championships
|Santiago, Chile |bgcolor="silver"|2nd |high jump |
| rowspan=4|2002
|bgcolor="silver"|2nd |high jump |2.16 m |
| CAC Junior Championships (U20)
|Bridgetown, Barbados |bgcolor="gold"|1st |high jump |2.23 m |
| World Junior Championships
|bgcolor=CC9966|3rd |high jump |
| Commonwealth Games
|Manchester, Great Britain |5th |high jump |
| rowspan=3|2003
|Birmingham, Great Britain |– |high jump |NM |
| Pan American Games
|Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |bgcolor="gold"|1st |high jump |
| World Championships
|Paris, France |5th |high jump |
| 2004
|Budapest, Hungary |bgcolor=CC9966|3rd |high jump |
| bgcolor="#eeeeee" colspan="6"|Representing {{GBR2}} |
| 2006
|Gothenburg, Sweden |17th (q) |high jump |
| 2007
|Osaka, Japan |27th (q) |high jump |
| 2008
|Beijing, China |bgcolor="silver"|2nd |high jump |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/germaine-mason-obituary-jamaican-born-high-jumper-who-won-olympic-silver-for-team-gb-beijing-a7695716.html Obituary] in The Independent by Marcus Williamson
- {{World Athletics}}
- [http://www.germainemason.net Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925135139/http://www.germainemason.net/ |date=25 September 2020 }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090813051442/http://www.mtc-uk.com/talent/germaine-mason Management website]
{{Footer Pan American Champions High Jump Men}}
{{British Athletics Championships men's high jump champions}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Germaine}}
Category:Athletes from Kingston, Jamaica
Category:Jamaican male high jumpers
Category:British male high jumpers
Category:Olympic male high jumpers
Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain
Category:Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain
Category:Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Category:Commonwealth Games competitors for Jamaica
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for Jamaica
Category:Pan American Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games
Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain
Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for Jamaica
Category:British Athletics Championships winners
Category:Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom
Category:Jamaican Seventh-day Adventists
Category:Road incident deaths in Jamaica
Category:Motorcycle road incident deaths
Category:Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games
Category:Jamaican Athletics Championships winners
Category:Wolmer's Schools alumni
Category:Jamaican people of English descent
Category:21st-century British sportsmen
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