Congratulations to Raihau Maiau for winning his first French National Title in the Long Jump.
The Tahitian jumper came 2nd in 2016 at the French National Championships and this year Raihau was able to take home the title with a jump of 8.22m. This jump would have been a World Championship Qualifier, but unfortunately not legal due to the windy conditions (+3.4m/s).
Together with his competitor Kafetien Gomis both delivered a tough fight for the gold medal. In his last attempt Kafetien seemed to come very close to the 8.22m with a jump of 18.17m, 5cm too short. – Lucky for Raihau.
Raihau used to train at the High Performance Training Centre at the Gold Coast in 2011/2012 on a Olympic scholarship, before he then moved to France in 2014.
This is not Raihau’s first title: He is also the reigning Pacific Games Champion from 2015 in the Long Jump.
After an injury followed by operation on his foot in 2016 Raihau started training again in October and made an impressive come back with the ambition to shine at international level.
Other Achievements in Oceania:
Pacific Island All Time Rankings: 2nd place 7.98m
National Record Holder Men’s Long Jump, French Polynesia: 7.98m
Leader Pacific Island Rankings 2017
