Gerson Baldé achieved the performance of his life to complete a Portuguese long jump double at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 on Sunday (22).

The 26-year-old soared a world-leading PB of 8.46m in the final round to leap into top spot, ahead of Italy’s world champion Mattia Furlani on 8.39m.

Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Sarâboyukov – who started the contest as the world leader – was in third place at that point on 8.31m but he couldn’t respond when Baldé replaced him at the top of the season list.

Nor could Furlani, who like Sarâboyukov closed his campaign with a foul.

That left Baldé – fourth at last year’s European Indoor Championships and eighth at the last edition of the World Indoors – to celebrate his first major medal.

“It was my dream to win this gold medal. I have been longing for this for quite some time now, but I am still surprised as I have never been considered one of the favourites,” he said.

“This proves that anyone who dreams big can achieve anything they want. Not so long ago, I would have been sure that a final jump would most probably be a foul due to feeling so anxious about winning a medal. My coach told me to stay calm and that definitely helped my overall performance. Now, I want to go outdoors and show that I can jump far again.

“All the other competitors were really strong, but I managed to save my best jump for last. I stayed calm and showed the world what I can do.”

Baldé opened with 8.17m and followed that with a foul, 8.07m, another foul and then 8.19m. That left him in fifth place with one round remaining.

Sarâboyukov had taken the early lead with 8.22m and improved to 8.31m from his next attempt – keeping him ahead until Furlani flew to an equal PB of 8.39m in the fifth round. That formed part of a series that also featured marks of 8.25m, 8.23m and 8.16m, despite Furlani suffering illness.

“To take this silver with a result which equalled my personal best is just a great job,” he said. “It's much more valuable to me because I'm returning from a sick period. I'm feeling better but last night I woke up two times.

“It was important for me to make the podium here. I am still young and I want to improve from one championship to another to keep my motivation.”

All three medallists have excelled in the high jump as well as the long jump and Sarâboyukov added his long jump bronze in Toruń to the world U20 high jump silver he claimed in Cali in 2022 – in a final that also featured Furlani.

Cuba’s Jorge A. Hodelín finished fourth and USA’s Jeremiah Davis fifth. Two-time Olympic and two-time world indoor champion Miltiádis Tentóglou of Greece finished sixth on 8.19m. The final also featured South Africa’s 2017 world champion Luvo Manyonga, competing in his first major championships since the 2019 World Championships in Doha, but he was unable to record a valid mark.

Jess Whittington for World Athletics

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