PREVIEW - Men's Long Jump

For many years, there wasn’t much happening in the men’s Long Jump. Since the days of Carl Lewis and Mike Powell, the only man jumping close to the nine metre mark was Cuban Ivan Pedroso – and even he couldn’t do it without a strong tailwind.

So there was room at the top, but Dwight Phillips of the United States has emerged as the next great long jumper. He is now in a class of his own, and he has the World Championship title from 2003 and the Olympic gold medal from Athens to prove that.

At the US championships, Miguel Pate surprised Phillips. Pate won with 8.35m, Phillips’s best that day was 8.28m. But Phillips has remained unbeaten since and has easily won the other three clashes against Pate in 2005. In Madrid his mark was 8.47m, in Helsinki at the dress rehearsal for the Championships 8.44m and in Rome 8.39m. His consistency means he is the favourite to win his second World Championship gold medal.

At 27 years of age, Phillips is not trying to talk down the pressure on him to perform. Instead, he is talking about jumping nine metres. His best result is 8.60m from last year. At the Helsinki Championships, he says he expects to jump 8.70m – 8.80m.

One can hope for a thriller at the Olympic Stadium, if not a close fight for the gold, then at least for the other medals. In April, Mohamed Salman Al-Khuwailidi of Saudi Arabia jumped the Asian record 8.44m. After that, the world has heard little from him. Irving Saladino of Panama jumped 8.51m in Brazil in May, but with too much wind assisting him. Senegalese Ndiss Kaba Badj’s 8.30m in Dakar was a wind assisted mark as well. In legal conditions, Saladino has jumped 8.29m and 8.26m. Miguel Pate has been in good form and he has jumped consistently over 8.20m. Brian Johnson of the United States was third in the national championships, and his best mark this year is 8.33m.

Among the challengers is also Godfrey Khotso Mokoena of South Africa. Last year he took gold in the Triple Jump and silver in Long Jump at the World Junior Championships. He still hasn’t decided which one to concentrate on, but his chances may be better in the Long Jump. His PB is 8.37m from April.

In Finland, Phillips, Mokoena and Johnson have had a chance to check out the local hope in Long Jump. Tommi Evilä is a temperamental showman, who is immensely popular with audiences in Finland. His best mark is a wind-assisted 8.27m in Lapinlahti, Finland this July. At the Grand Prix meet at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, he jumped 8.22m -  again with too much wind behind him. Evilä’s performances have become more consistent and less temperamental, and he is expected to reach the final in Helsinki. Earlier this year, he was fourth in his debut at senior level at the European Indoor Championships.

Another man bringing Nordic flavour to the event is Morten Jensen of Denmark. He jumped 8.25m in July. Nils Winter of Germany and Volodymyr Zyuskov of Ukraine have been performing well. Salim Sdiri of France jumped his best of 8.25m winning the French Championships in July and exceeded 8m in all of his four July competitions. At the ripe age of 32, Ivan Pedroso of Cuba is still competing, but way off his best results. Joan Lino Martinez, former Cuban jumper now representing Spain, won the European Indoor championships but has shown little after the winter. But he did come much closer to his winter results winning the Spanish Championships with a season’s best of 8.17m just prior the World Championships. Australian Tim Parravcini jumped 8.18m as early as February.

Helsinki 2005 media team