World Athletics Championships: China’s Wang Jianan snatches long jump gold with final leap
- Wang produces dramatic last-round leap of 8.36 metres on Saturday to win China’s first gold medal in Oregon
- The 25-year-old had managed a best of only 8.03m in his first five attempts and was out of the medals, but soared to the front on his final jump
Wang Jianan produced a last-round leap of 8.36 metres to snatch China’s first ever long jump gold at the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene after Tentoglou Miltiadis of Greece looked to be cruising to victory.
The 25-year-old Wang had produced a best of only 8.03m in his first five attempts and was out of the medal contention. But Wang was waiting patiently for his time to shine.
Miltiadis was on course to complete the full house of major titles after previously winning the Olympics, the indoor world title and the European indoor and outdoor titles.
His fifth-round jump of 8.32m looked to be good enough for gold and his second, third and fourth-best leaps of 8.30m, 8.29m and 8.24m were all better than anyone else in the field could manage until Wang’s intervention.
Instead he had to settle for silver, with Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer, who came to Eugene with a world lead 8.45m to his name after temporarily switching from decathlon, taking bronze with 8.16m.
“I came to Eugene with the biggest aim of making the podium here,” Wang said. “That is why I was a little bit disappointed after five rounds, having a best result of 8.03m.
“Seeing my final result on the screen, I couldn’t believe that it was possible. Then I recognised that my gold in Eugene is the greatest achievement ever for a Chinese long jumper at the World Championships.
“These thoughts made me really very proud. It looks like Eugene isn’t only a lucky town for me, but something like a second home.”
