ROB Mitchell says that he’ll take his time to plot his next move after the freak neck injury that robbed him of his shot at qualifying for London 2012.

The Trowbridge-based high jump star, 30, was due to compete at the Aviva Olympic Trials in Birmingham last weekend but managed to sustain mild whiplash in training just days before he was due to compete and was forced to stay at home.

Mitchell, who competed for Wales in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, admits that missing out on last weekend’s crucial meeting was a bitter pill to swallow and that he’s in no rush to make any decisions on where his jump career is heading.

“It was a few days before the trials – I was working on a few technical things with my coach (Denis Doyle) by jumping off a box and I managed to jar my neck somehow,” said the Welsh international, who runs a local personal training business.

“I went to the doctors with and tried putting all kinds of anti-inflammatories on it and when my coach asked me to try and just do a few standing jumps, I was in absolute agony. At first I just couldn’t accept it and to be honest, since the weekend, I’ve not been the happiest of boys.

“Everything else about me was fine and I was in great condition but I guess things like that can always happen.

“My coach has talked to me about jumping for the rest of the season but I’m probably not going to do that – there’s a home Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and the qualification for that will start next year, so that’s always a possibility but I’ve not made any decisions yet.”

With his own Olympic dream over, Mitchell’s immediate attention has switched to helping former training partner Martyn Bernard attempt to achieve the Olympic A Standard height of 2.31 metres.

Mitchell added: “Martyn saw my name on the start list for the trials and called me the next day to ask ‘where were you?’.

“He’s been staying with me because he competed at a meet in Bath on Wednesday and there’s another chance for him to try and get the height this weekend too.

“I know him well and I know what he needs to do to jump well so I’m going to try and help him get there first and then think about myself.”