Tajay Gayle
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Jamaican |
| Born | August 2, 1996 Kingston, Jamaica |
| Sport | |
| Country | Jamaica |
| Sport | Track and field |
| Event | Long jump |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | Long jump: 8.69 m 100 metres: 10.42 s |
| Updated on 28 September 2019 | |
Tajay Gayle (born August 2, 1996) is a Jamaican long jumper and the current 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[1], who also coaches Olympic and World Champions Elaine Thompson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. On September 28, 2019, Gayle became the first Jamaican man to win a World Championship gold in the long jump.[2]
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).[3]
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.[4]
References
- ^ "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| News | iaaf.org". www.iaaf.org. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
External links
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  | This biographical article relating to Jamaican athletics is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1996 births
- Living people
- Jamaican male long jumpers
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games competitors for Jamaica
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games
- Pan American Games silver medalists for Jamaica
- Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Pan American Games competitors for Jamaica
- World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
- World Athletics Championships medalists
- Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica
- World Athletics Championships winners
- Jamaican athletics biography stubs