USA’s Tara Davis-Woodhall targeting the one global title missing from her collection
Two-time world champion Malaika Mihambo returns to the stadium where she won Olympic gold in 2021
Diamond League winner Larissa Iapichino and world indoor champion Claire Bryant also big contenders
USA’s Tara Davis-Woodhall arrives in Tokyo as the clear favorite in the long jump. Olympic champion in 2024 and world silver medalist in Budapest in 2023, she has competed sparingly this year but has improved with each competition, topped by her world-leading 7.12m to win the US title.
In fact, Davis-Woodhall hasn’t lost a long jump competition since the 2023 World Championships, which was won by Ivana Spanovic. The Serbian won’t defend her title and will contest just the triple jump in Tokyo, but Davis-Woodhall will still face tough opposition as she looks to add the outdoor world title to the world indoor gold and Olympic crown she won last year.
As was the case at last year’s Olympic Games, Germany’s two-time world champion Malaika Mihambo finished second to Davis-Woodhall at the Prefontaine Classic, 7.07m to 7.01m.
Two other women have jumped beyond seven metres this year: Italy’s Larissa Iapichino and France’s Hilary Kpatcha.
Iapichino won European indoor gold back in March, then sailed out to a lifetime best of 7.06m in late May. More recently, she won the Diamond League Final with 6.93m. Kpatcha, meanwhile, jumped a PB of 7.02m in early May and has achieved top-three finishes at the Diamond League meetings in London, Silesia and Zurich.
Claire Bryant produced one of the biggest surprises of the World Indoor Championships, taking gold with a PB of 6.96m. She has since backed that up with consistently strong results throughout the outdoor season, including a marginally wind-assisted 6.97m at the US Championships.
Annik Kalin, previously known as more of a heptathlete, has enjoyed success in the long jump in recent years. Earlier this year she took European indoor silver with a Swiss record of 6.90m, then followed it with world indoor silver two weeks later.
Other athletes to look out for include Romania’s 2023 world bronze medallist Alina Rotaru-Kottman, European bronze medallist Agate de Sousa, Nigerian teenager Prestina Ochonogor, who reached the Olympic final last year, and Japanese record-holder Sumire Hata.
Pierre Pillet for World Athletics
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