LEIGHTON LEVY, STAR Writer

Fresh off his world-leading discus throw last weekend, Fredrick Dacres credits the influence of his coach, Julian Robinson, his pride and the fear of failure for his triumphant return from knee surgery last year.

Dacres, in only his second meet of the new season, threw the discus 66.30m at the Big Shot meet at Excelsior last weekend, beating his closest competitor, Basil Bingham, by more than 10 metres.

It was almost as if he had not missed a beat, having thrown a world-leading mark of 66.75m, on March 29, 2014, mere weeks before he underwent surgery to repair damaged ligaments and replace the meniscus in his knee.

Robinson, who has been coaching Dacres since he was at Calabar High School, said the 20-year-old University of the West Indies student is nothing short of special.

"He is like a bionic man. He is obviously not your average thrower," Robinson told the media following Dacres' throw.

"He has had to endure a lot. At one point, he thought his career was over, but he is a tough human being - abnormal, if you can say that."

That toughness, Dacres said, is fired by his pride and his absolute fear of being considered a has-been.

'Banjay', as he is known among his friends, was the first Jamaican to win a gold medal in the discus at a World Youth Championships.

He won the competition in 2011 from the get-go, with a world youth leading 67.05m, after being stung by the jeers of his peers in Lille, that he looked more like a sprinter than a thrower.

In 2012, he won the discus at the World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain, becoming the first man to hold world youth and world junior discus titles simultaneously.

A hard act to follow, but Dacres continues to strive for greater, as a senior.

"I am a very competitive person, and I think that works in my favour, because I don't want to be the person that someone will say, 'he did this, and then look at him'. My pride drives me.

"I don't want to be a has-been, because I have done a few things in the past, and I want to go to higher levels. I don't want to be forgotten," he said.

That is where Robinson's influence comes in. When faced with adversity, Dacres said he always remains calm, something he learned from his coach.

"He (Robinson) is very calm, so we feed off that energy, and we try to emulate him.

"He always said everything works out to the good of the believer. So if there is a set back, the only thing we can do is work."

That is what he has done. Robinson reveals that Dacres was off crutches within weeks of surgery.

Dacres said his strength has improved significantly, as he has gone from benching 345lb to 375lb.

His snatch has also improved significantly.

Robinson said the plan now is to prepare Dacres for the 2016 Olympics and to ensure that he doesn't break down as he did last year.

Robinson said he wants Dacres to be stronger and start throwing the shot put in competition.

"I want him to excel at both, but we are taking it slowly, building him, because we cannot afford for him to go down like he did before," Robinson said.