Unlucky break halts quest for gold | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

It's a sign of strong character when an athlete ignores intense pain to focus on their achievement.

But for 18-year-old Ryan Howe that pain also meant a break in competition and a lost opportunity to win gold.

Howe was competing at the National Secondary Schools Championships on Saturday. With a bronze in the 100m he was trying to do better at the long jump. His second jump of six gifted him a new personal best of 7.04 metres.

"I was really focused on how far I had jumped than the pain," Howe said.

"I got up and when I saw the length I was amazed. The jump ranked me first at the time - I didn't care about my shoulder at that point.

"But when I moved there was heaps of pain and that's when I knew my day was over. I hoped I would win but the guy who beat me, his last jump went further than mine."

He finished with a silver medal. Brendon Barnett of Waimea College jumped 7.13m to take gold.

Howe had earlier hoped the long jump would come ahead of the 100m to allow him more opportunity to focus on his main event.

He admits to not having done any long jump-specific training - his coach told him he might as well compete since he was already there.

"It was my first time over 7m so I was really pleased with that, and I got a new personal best in the 100m."

It was a snap decision to enter a schools athletics day that resulted in Howe's change in focus. He had played basketball but is now using his "explosive power" on the track and field.

He's now committed to gaining selection for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, taking in the World Youth Games in 2012 and the Australian Youth Championships.

"I've only been training seriously since August and it's taken me four months to go from 11.50 seconds to 10.86," Howe said.

"I reckon I can get down to 10 flat or even high nines if I stick at it. Hopefully my performance on the weekend will give me opportunities to get to the World Youth Games in 2012."

Howe is coached by Lake City Athletics Club coach Dan Beazley and said his success in Hastings had led to further coaching offers. He believes under Beazley he can achieve his goals, especially as he is still so young in the sport.

Until August he lived off "hot chips, fried chicken, icecream every day". Now he measures out his food, eats plenty of eggs and porridge, and supplements his diet with protein powder.

He has just finished Year 13 at John Paul College and will move to Auckland next year to study audio engineering and sound production. He is talented off the sports field too, winning this year's Rotorua's Got Talent with his lap guitar.

"It's good to have my music as after a hard training session I'll thrash out some tunes. It also means I'll have something to fall back on should I get injured."