Portugal’s Agate De Sousa won an exciting long jump final to ensure her first global medal was a gold one on the final morning of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 on Sunday (22).

By jumping 6.92m in the fifth round, she took the title ahead of Italy’s Larissa Iapichino and Colombia’s Natalia Linares.

Iapichino saved her best for last, jumping 6.87m in the final round to secure silver for her first global medal, while Linares added world indoor bronze with a leap of 6.80m to the medal of the same colour she claimed in Tokyo last year.

De Sousa started as the world leader thanks to the indoor PB of 6.97m she set in Madrid last month.

It was Linares who had the early lead, jumping 6.79m from her first attempt – a single centimetre farther than Sweden’s Khaddi Sagnia. The Colombian athlete, who secured world U20 silver in 2022, extended her lead by one centimetre with her next attempt before De Sousa soared into top spot with 6.82m in the third round.

The competition came alive in the fifth round. Iapichino, the European silver medallist who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, took a few attempts to get warmed up but she launched herself from seventh to first in the fifth round – landing at 6.84m.

Sagnia fouled and Linares jumped 6.61m before De Sousa posted her response – 6.92m for the second-best indoor mark of her career.

As they each took their final attempts, Sagnia and Linares could not improve, confirming Linares as the bronze medallist. Iapichino improved by three centimetres but it wasn’t quite enough and De Sousa closed her campaign with a final leap of 6.65m, adding world indoor gold to her World University Games title from last year and the European bronze she claimed behind Iapichino in Rome in 2024.

“Today, I did not think about my opponents and just competed with myself and nobody else,” said De Sousa, who was born in São Tomé and Príncipe and represented the nation at the African Games. In winning gold in Kujawy Pomorze, she follows in the footsteps of the 2008 champion Naide Gomes, who also grew up in the Central African island country before moving to Portugal and getting long jump gold for that nation.

“I came here to jump seven metres and that was all I had in my mind. It did not come today but I know that it will come again. This is a gold medal so I am sure it will change my life in a positive way.

“The most beloved place for me is my country (São Tomé and Príncipe) – I try to go there every year. My mother and father are still there. It is not that tough because I also have another family in Portugal and I speak with my parents via phone every day. Of course, they are watching at home – they sent me some messages before the competition.”

Iapichino was pleased to add a global silver to her medal collection, improving on the mark but not the medal claimed by her mother Fiona May when she jumped 6.86m to win the 1997 title.

“I finally did it, a world championship medal,” she said. “I have been chasing it for years – it was a messy competition, but that is fine.

“My mother won the world indoor title as well as many other medals and I hope one day I can match her achievements.”

With bronze, Linares made history for her nation by claiming Colombia’s first ever World Indoor Championships medal.

"I'm glad I was able to pair it with the bronze medal from the 2025 World Championships. Of course, that experience from Tokyo gave me much more confidence," she said. "Colombian triple jump legend Caterine Ibargüen is still my idol and she opened the path for us. Now we are here in the long jump and I hope my example will open the path for other Colombian women."

Jess Whittington for World Athletics

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