Olympic Women’s Long Jump — Davis-Woodhall Takes Charge

ON A WARM EVENING, with most media attention focused on track events, Tara Davis-Woodhall staked her claim as the world’s top long jumper.

In so doing, she defeated Germany’s Malaika Mihambo, since 2018 the dominant force in the event, with 14 meets beyond 7.00 meters (22-11¾), an Olympic and two World titles, and two European golds.

And Davis-Woodhall did so decisively, with the two longest jumps in the competition, and a superb series.

There was drama in the qualifying, thanks to Mihambo, who fouled her first two attempts. On her third, she took off with a 1-foot (30.8cm) margin of safety, well behind the takeoff board, and reached 22-6¼ (6.86) to automatically advance. She is still handicapped by breathing problems after a recent Covid infection.

The morning’s longest jump belonged to Davis-Woodhall, at 22-7¾ (6.90), followed closely by Italy’s Larissa Iapichino with a 22-6½ (6.87). Americans Jasmine Moore and Monae’ Nichols also advanced, but the 2023 world champion, Ivana Španović of Serbia, could not recover from a season of injuries and fell short.

Before the final, Davis-Woodhall broke the tension by dancing trackside with just-qualified 1500 finalist Nikki Hiltz.

Teammate Moore opened the proceedings with a 22-10 (6.96) jump, which remained her best of the day, and TDW followed with a 22-9 (6.93).

The second round would prove decisive. Moore started it with a 22-8½ (6.92), Mihambo followed with a 22-4¼ (6.81), and Iapichino equaled her 22-6½ qualifying mark; she would jump no farther.

Then TDW leaped 23-1¾ (7.05) with a 1.1mps wind, a mark no one would exceed.

But Mihambo was not finished. A 22-9¾ (6.95) in round 3 was followed by a long foul in round 4 and a 22-10¾ (6.98) in round 5, moving her closer, into 2nd. On her final try, under pressure with a chance to win it all, her approach was off and she ran through the pit. Her reign was over.

Davis-Woodhall left nothing to chance, using her 12.75 hurdle speed and excellent board placement to record a winning 23-3½ (7.10) in round 4. Moore’s bronze made her the first American to medal in both horizontal jumps.

Reunited with her trademark cowboy hat, the typically-ebullient TDW was ready to celebrate. “Is this real? Am I dreaming? Pinch me! When I found out I was jumping…