Naide Gomes sails to a 6.71m victory in Stuttgart (© Getty Images)
With so many genuine gold medal contenders, the women’s Long Jump in Berlin will be impossible to predict, but that will simply make it an even more interesting event to watch.
Defending champion Tatyana Lebedeva is always a fierce competitor in championship finals. In her 23 championship appearances since the turn of this decade, Lebedeva has won medals in all but two of those. That impressive run will have to come to an end one day of course, but at 33 years old, the Olympic silver medallist is showing no signs of slowing down and she has a best of 6.93m this year.
Olympic champion Maurren Higa Maggi is one month older than Lebedeva and has jumped 6.90m this year. But her form is nowhere near as impressive as it was last year, when she won the vast majority of her competitions. At the Brazilian Championships Maggi was beaten by Keila Costa, who is another athlete to keep an eye on.
But the favourite to win in Berlin has to be Naide Gomes. The Portugese athlete left Beijing bitterly disappointed after having a nightmare in the qualifying round, despite being tipped for big things beforehand. Spurred on by the memories of her Olympic disaster, Gomes has enjoyed a fantastic 2009 and has won her past 10 consecutive competitions, including victories in London, Moscow and at the European Team Championships. With a season’s best of 6.99m, former heptathete Gomes looks poised to sail over the seven-metre barrier in Berlin to challenge for gold.
One woman who could stand in her way, however, is Brittney Reese who was victorious in Doha when Gomes suffered her only defeat of the year. Reese has improved this year to 7.06m and won the US trials with a wind-assisted 7.09m. But if her performances in Osaka and Beijing are anything to go by, Reese has a tendency to jump further in qualification than she does in the final. Should she break that habit in Berlin, Reese could well land herself with the gold medal.
Reese’s team-mate Funmi Jimoh has recently taken a few tips from Erich Drechsler, ex father-in-law and ex-coach of former Olympic champion Heike Drechsler, in her quest to succeed in Berlin. Like Reese, Jimoh jumped poorly in the Beijing final, but is currently ranked third in the world with her 6.96m PB, which is the kind of form needed to win a medal.
Achieving medal sweeps at the last World championships and at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Russia never fails to field a strong team of female long jumpers. Berlin will be no different, and joining Lebedeva will be Russian champion Yelena Sokolova (6.92m PB), European indoor bronze medallist Olga Kucherenko (6.91m PB) and Irina Meleshina (nee Simagina), the former Olympic silver medallist.
With nine women over 6.50m this year, host nation Germany has enjoyed a good year of long jumping. They will be represented by European under-23 champion Melanie Bauschke (6.83m PB), Bianca Kappler – fifth at the last World championships – and Beatrice Marschek (6.73m PB).
In what looks set to be a very open event, also keep an eye out for South African-turned-Turk Melis Mey (6.87m this year), Viktoriya Molchanova of Ukraine (6.82m this year) and Olympic bronze medallist Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria (6.91m PB).
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
Defending champion Tatyana Lebedeva is always a fierce competitor in championship finals. In her 23 championship appearances since the turn of this decade, Lebedeva has won medals in all but two of those. That impressive run will have to come to an end one day of course, but at 33 years old, the Olympic silver medallist is showing no signs of slowing down and she has a best of 6.93m this year.
Olympic champion Maurren Higa Maggi is one month older than Lebedeva and has jumped 6.90m this year. But her form is nowhere near as impressive as it was last year, when she won the vast majority of her competitions. At the Brazilian Championships Maggi was beaten by Keila Costa, who is another athlete to keep an eye on.
But the favourite to win in Berlin has to be Naide Gomes. The Portugese athlete left Beijing bitterly disappointed after having a nightmare in the qualifying round, despite being tipped for big things beforehand. Spurred on by the memories of her Olympic disaster, Gomes has enjoyed a fantastic 2009 and has won her past 10 consecutive competitions, including victories in London, Moscow and at the European Team Championships. With a season’s best of 6.99m, former heptathete Gomes looks poised to sail over the seven-metre barrier in Berlin to challenge for gold.
One woman who could stand in her way, however, is Brittney Reese who was victorious in Doha when Gomes suffered her only defeat of the year. Reese has improved this year to 7.06m and won the US trials with a wind-assisted 7.09m. But if her performances in Osaka and Beijing are anything to go by, Reese has a tendency to jump further in qualification than she does in the final. Should she break that habit in Berlin, Reese could well land herself with the gold medal.
Reese’s team-mate Funmi Jimoh has recently taken a few tips from Erich Drechsler, ex father-in-law and ex-coach of former Olympic champion Heike Drechsler, in her quest to succeed in Berlin. Like Reese, Jimoh jumped poorly in the Beijing final, but is currently ranked third in the world with her 6.96m PB, which is the kind of form needed to win a medal.
Achieving medal sweeps at the last World championships and at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Russia never fails to field a strong team of female long jumpers. Berlin will be no different, and joining Lebedeva will be Russian champion Yelena Sokolova (6.92m PB), European indoor bronze medallist Olga Kucherenko (6.91m PB) and Irina Meleshina (nee Simagina), the former Olympic silver medallist.
With nine women over 6.50m this year, host nation Germany has enjoyed a good year of long jumping. They will be represented by European under-23 champion Melanie Bauschke (6.83m PB), Bianca Kappler – fifth at the last World championships – and Beatrice Marschek (6.73m PB).
In what looks set to be a very open event, also keep an eye out for South African-turned-Turk Melis Mey (6.87m this year), Viktoriya Molchanova of Ukraine (6.82m this year) and Olympic bronze medallist Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria (6.91m PB).
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
