By Noel Francis
Tokyo, Japan – Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle collected silver in an enthralling men’s long jump final on the fifth day of the World Athletics Championship. Gayle now has the complete medal set, having won gold in 2019 and bronze in 2023.
Gayle started confidently sailing out to 8.33m in the opening round. China’s Yuhao Shi equalled Gayle’s mark in the second round. However, Gayle added a centimetre in the fourth round to reclaim the lead. While Gayle and Shi were battling for the ascendancy, defending champion Miltiadis Tentoglou was struggling to attain the 8m mark and was eliminated from the final jump-off.
Italy’s Mattia Furlani (20) uncorked a big jump of 8.39m to supplant Gayle at the top. That would remain the best mark throughout, as Furlani added the outdoor gold to his indoor title earned in March.
Gayle, whose season was interrupted by injury, was happy to have come away with silver, although he wanted to win. “Well, being on the podium is a very good feeling,” said Gayle. “I was hoping to win gold, but unfortunately, my hamstring wasn’t giving me much today,” reasoned Gayle.
He added, “I tried my best to get a good first jump because I knew after that I wouldn’t have much to offer because my hamstring was really cramping up. It’s a very sore hamstring since the prelims, and so I was trying to be very positive out there, and hoping nothing went wrong, and it didn’t. It was a great competition though, the Italian deserved it, but Jamaica would have loved the gold still.”
“I can’t complain after winning three medals at the World Championship.”