Tajay Gayle
 Gayle in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 2 August 1996 Kingston, Jamaica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Jamaica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Long jump | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | Long jump: 8.69 m 100 metres: 10.13 s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 21 August 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tajay Gayle (born 2 August 1996) is a Jamaican long jumper and the 2019 World Champion.
Biography
Gayle was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He is a graduate of Papine High School in Kingston and he is a member of the MVP track club. He is coached by Stephen Francis,[2] who is the former coach of Olympic and World Champion Elaine Thompson-Herah. On September 28, 2019, Gayle became the first Jamaican man to win a World Championship gold in the long jump.[3]
Career
He became an 8-meter jumper in 2017, improving from 7.54 m (24 ft 8+3⁄4 in) the year before. Gayle finished fourth at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and took the silver medal at the 2018 NACAC Championships, where he improved his personal best to 8.24 m (27 ft 1⁄4 in).[4]
His current personal best is 8.69 m (28 ft 6 in), achieved on September 28, 2019, in Doha, where he became World Champion. He claimed the gold in an upset of the heavily favored Cuban long jumper Juan Miguel Echevarría. He also beat the 2016 Olympic champion Jeff Henderson and the 2017 World Champion Luvo Manyonga. His 8.69 m (28 ft 6 in) jump put him at number 10 in the IAAF all-time list.[5]
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he got an injury at his first jump at the qualifying round. He managed to do a 8.14 m (26 ft 8+1⁄4 in) jump at his third attempt, then did 7.69 m (25 ft 2+3⁄4 in) at the final round to rank 11th.
References
- ^ "GAYLE Tajay". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ "Coach Francis surprised by Gayle's long jump national record". RJR News. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ "Ten things to know about Tajay Gayle". Loop Jamaica. Loop sports. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ Tajay Gayle at World Athletics
- ^ "Report: men's long jump - IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019". IAAF.org. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
External links
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