Jordan Lee hoping to get Paris qualification sorted quickly

Jordan Lee says he wants to secure qualification for next summer's Paralympic Games in Paris as early in 2024 as he can.

The Kerry high jumper finished ninth in Tokyo two years ago and feels that he can go much better next time around.

There are Para Athletics World Championships in Japan in May of next year, but Lee is hoping to have his place in Paris secured before that.

"We're still in the process of planning," he said as he helped Permanent TSB to launch their plan to Turn Paris Green.

"We would ideally want to get it done early in the season, between the January and March period in indoors.

"There isn't a certainty that I'm going to go to Worlds yet, it all depends how the start of the season goes. The hope is to perform well at the start [of the year] to allow me to go to worlds.

"The high performance standard was only released on Friday. It's 1.87m so that isn't an issue, touch wood."

At the last Paralympic Games two years ago Lee's best jump was 1.74. It was a big disappointment for him owing to the fact that he has managed to clear a PB height of 1.95 in previous competitions.

But Lee lays the blame squarely at his own door.

"Tokyo is always an interesting one to talk on from a performance perspective," he acknowledges.

"I'm always open about the fact that it was a shocking performance and I hold my hands up to it. There's no excuses or hiding away from it.

"It could have been a case that my taper coming into the competition wasn't up to standard. It was more than likely just a case that I didn't perform.

"I've got to hold myself accountable for that. When you win or lose it's all on you, there's a lot of accountability on your shoulders. I know there's a team around me to be able to get me to the right position but it is