Long Jump Athletes

A dominant sprinter and long jumper, Carl Lewis has won ten Olympic medals, nine of them gold. From 1981 to 1991, he topped the world rankings in the 100 m, 200 m and long jump events, slowly starting to lose his dominance thereafter, eventually retiring in 1997. Currently a businessperson, he has also appeared in films and television productions.

The first to score over 7,000 points in the heptathlon, Jackie Joyner-Kersee is considered by many as one of the greatest female athletes ever. While in school, she excelled in sports such as volleyball, basketball, and track, and also did well in studies. She later won three Olympic golds medals.

Bob Beamon is a former American track and field athlete who won the gold medal for the long jump at the 1968 Olympics. He created a world record in the process of winning the gold medal; the record was broken by Mike Powell almost 23 years later. Beamon was inducted into United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

Nafissatou Thiam is a Belgian athlete who achieved popularity in 2016 when she won the gold medal in Heptathlon at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Nafissatou Thiam went on to win another gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, becoming only the second woman to win consecutive Olympic titles in Heptathlon after America's Jackie Joyner-Kersee. 

Olympic bronze-winning Serbian long jumper Ivana Spanovic has also been a 2-time European Champion, a 3-time European Indoor Champion, and a 2-time World Indoor Champion. She has also won 4 Diamond League titles. She is also known for her love for long nails and neon nail paint on field.

Former track and field athlete from Sweden, Carolina Klüft is an Olympic gold medalist. Born to Swedish soccer player Johnny Klüft and long jumper Ingalill Ahlm Klüft, Carolina was naturally drawn toward sports at an early age. She is also a student of peace and development and participates in charitable campaigns.

Galina Chistyakova is a former athlete best known for representing the Soviet Union in the Olympic Games, European Championships, World Indoor Championships, and European Indoor Championships, winning a bronze medal, one silver medal, one gold medal, and six medals, respectively. In 1988, Chistyakova reached 7.52 metres in the long jump, creating a new world record which she continues to hold.

Khaddi Sagnia is a Swedish athlete who specializes in the long jump. She competed in the first Youth Olympic Games where she won a gold medal in the triple jump. She also took part in the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships where she won a bronze medal in the long jump final.

Grigoris Lambrakis was a Greek physician, politician, and track and field athlete. He played an important role during the Second World War as a prominent member of the Greek resistance to the occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers. After the war, Grigoris Lambrakis went on to become a popular anti-war activist.

Former track and field athlete Fiona May initially represented the UK and then Italy in long jump. She has two Olympic silver medals to her credit and is a three-time World Champion. Her daughter, Larissa Iapichino, too is an athlete, who specializes in hurdles and long jump.

A 2-time Olympian, retired long jumper Robert Emmiyan has represented both the USSR and Armenia internationally. The 4th-best long jumper in the history of the sport, he has been a European Championship gold medalist and a World Championship silver medalist. He lost a part of his family in the 1988 Armenian earthquake.