PROUD dad Mark Gale already has plenty of reason to celebrate next Wednesday – and he is hoping that son Tom can make it a really extra special occasion Down Under.

Mark and wife Grace have made the trip to Brisbane from their home in Trowbridge to watch 19-year-old Tom make his senior international debut for England at the Commonwealth Games.

The Gales have been as astonished as anyone at the remarkable rise of their boy from rookie schoolboy to international high jumper in just five years, and if he can continue that progress, it will be a great hobby for them to follow Tom on the international circuit with their new-found free time.

“Wednesday is officially the day I retire after 30 years with Wiltshire Police,” said Mark.

“Obviously I have finished work in advance taking holiday so Grace and I could come to Australia.

“No pressure on Tom but I told him I want a nice retirement present from him so we will see what happens.”

Mark is the antithesis of the pushy parent but he and Grace have ensured Tom has received all the support he needed once it became clear he had the talent and desire to reach international level.

“It was five years ago when Tom first announced he was going to have a go at the high jump,” said Mark.

“He came home from school and said he would be late the next day as he was in the West Wilts Schools competition.

“We never even knew he did the high jump but he won and then progressed to the Wiltshire Schools’ Championships, which he also won.

“At that meeting he was spotted by Caroline Howorth and she had a chat with him and he decided to join Team Bath. The rest is history.”

Gale cleared 1.66m in that first season in 2013 and improved to 1.86m a year later but it wasn’t until 2015 that he qualified for his first English Schools’ Championships, finishing eighth in Gateshead.

If that was a nudge on the door, then Gale burst through it in 2016, winning the English Schools’ title and finishing runner-up in the England U20 Championships to earn a place in the Great Britain team for the World Junior Championships in Poland, finishing a creditable ninth with a personal best of 2.19m.

Tom hasn’t looked back since and remarkably he will go into the final on Wednesday – as long as he survives Monday’s qualifying – ranked second in the Commonwealth of those entered.

That makes him a credible medal contender but the unknown factor is how he will cope in his first senior multi sports championships, not that he appears daunted.

“I’m definitely aiming to win a medal,” said Tom.

“Derek Drouin (Olympic and Commonwealth champion) isn’t there, which means I’m going in ranked joint-second. On the other hand, if I don’t get a medal I won’t be heartbroken.

“I’m still young and it’s my first senior international and hopefully after it I can qualify for this year’s Europeans, then the Worlds next year and hopefully the 2020 Olympics.

“I see the Commonwealth Games as more of a stepping stone rather than being thrown in the deep end straight away.”

Dad Mark wouldn’t publicly admit it but there would be no better retirement present than to see his boy step onto the medal podium next Friday but if he doesn’t it looks as if there will be plenty to keep him busy in the years ahead.