Kam excited for 2025 after breaking high jump record

Just days before the 2025 South Florida Invitational, national high jumper Kampton Kam faced uncertainty about competing in the meet.

- Kimberly Kwek

The Singaporean had felt discomfort in his knee on his take-off leg after he "tweaked" it on April 7.

On top of his fitness issues, Kam, an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, also had to take a test - which was worth 30 per cent of the grades for a class - on the day of his trip to Florida.

However, demonstrating resilience and determination, he overcame this setback to set a new national outdoor high jump record by clearing 2.25m on April 11, surpassing the previous mark of 2.22m held by Wong Yew Tong since the 1995 SEA Games.

He said: "Despite all this, I felt in the right headspace. I felt excitement going into the meet instead of hesitation and apprehension over whether my knee was going to flare up, I just let it take its course."

During the warmup, Kam was encouraged after clearing 2.15m, and his coach Joseph Klim boosted his confidence by saying, "I think you're going to jump 2.25m today".

He began the competition at 2.05m, then cleared 2.10m, 2.15m and 2.20m in succession. Eventually, only Kam and Grand Valley State University's Jaivon Harrison remained in the competition, and the bar was raised to 2.25m.