Incredible jumping by 19-year old Cuban long Jumper Juan Miguel Echevarria at the recent Diamond League competition in Stockholm. Echevarria nearly cleared the long jump pit with a massive leap of 8.83m – the furthest jump in any conditions for 23 years. The current Long Jump World record of 8.95m is held by American Mike Powell and was set back in 1991.
Echevarria’s jump was slightly illegal (2.1 m/sec tail wind) so will not be recognised in any record books. However, his second best mark of the competition was a legal jump of 8.50m, only 3cm off his personal best distance of 8.53m.
Echevarria finished ahead of Jeff Henderson (8.39m) of America and Luvo Manyonga (8.25m) of South Africa. Manyonga recently won Gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast with a leap of 8.41m, ahead of Australia’s Henry Frayne (8.33m), who has had his most successful season to date. Manyonga’s personal best is 8.65m and has consistently jumped over 8.30m this year.
Time to consider lengthening the long jump pits…
