The track stars won’t be the only athletes shining when events begin at Tokyo’s National Stadium on July 30. Some of the world’s best athletes in the long jump will put their talents on display during the Tokyo Olympics. But who are the athletes to watch in each event?
Here is everything you need to know about the men’s and women’s long jump events in Tokyo:
How can I watch the Olympic long jump competitions in Tokyo?
Below is the streaming schedule for Olympic long jump competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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The men’s long jump qualifying round will begin on the morning of Saturday, July 31. The women’s long jump qualifying round will follow later that night.
The men’s final round will be held the following day on Sunday, Aug. 1 and the women’s final round will conclude the competition the day after on Monday, Aug. 2.
- U.S. men’s qualifying: Saturday, July 31, 6:10 a.m. ET (Stream)
- U.S. women’s qualifying: Saturday, July 31, 8:50 p.m. ET (Stream)
- Men’s final: Monday, Aug. 1, 9:20 p.m. ET (Stream)
- Women’s final: Aug. 2, 9:50 p.m. ET (Stream)
All Olympic track and field events will be aired on NBC and NBC-affiliated channels like NBCSN, the Olympic Channel, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
Tokyo Olympics
Watch all the action from the Tokyo Games Live on NBC
How does the Olympic long jump competition work?
The long jump event will feature a qualifying round and final for both men and women.
All athletes will be required to meet the qualifying standard set by World Athletics to earn a spot in the final. Athletes are divided into two groups (A and B) and given three attempts to meet the qualifying standard with the best attempt counting. The athletes that meet the standard will automatically reach the final round. If less than 12 athletes hit the qualifying round mark, the next highest-ranked athletes, up to 12, will advance to the final.
The final will consist of six rounds. After each athlete has taken three attempts, the lowest-ranked athletes (usually four or more depending on if more than 12 athletes make the final) are eliminated from the competition. The remaining eight performers have three more attempts. If the competitors are tied at the end of those three attempts, the next best attempt will be declared the winner.
Who holds the men’s Olympic long jump record?
American Bob Beamon set the record for the farthest men’s Olympic long jump at the 1968 Mexico City Games. The then-22-year-old Beamon jumped 29 feet an 2 ½ inches, snapping Igor Ter-Ovanesyan and Ralph Boston’s previous mark by almost two feet. Jesse Owens held the long jump record for 25 years before that.
Who holds the women’s Olympic long jump record?
American Jackie Joyner-Kersee jumped an Olympic-record setting 24 feet, 3 ¼ inches to win a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Games. Joyner-Kersee also holds the world record after jumping 24 foot, 5½ inches at the 1987 Pan American games.
Which men will compete for Team USA in long jump at the Tokyo Olympics?
Marquis Dendy
Marquis Dendy is the 2015 U.S. outdoor national champion and 2016 U.S. and world indoor gold medalist. He jumped a personal best 8.42 meters (27 feet, 7.49 inches) at the 2016 Olympic trials but suffered a lower right leg injury which forced him to withdraw from the Rio Games a week before they began.
Five years later, the seven-time NCAA champion from the University of Florida refused to miss out on his opportunity again. The 28-year-old placed second at the 2021 trials with a 27 feet, 6 inch jump, which was good enough to make the team.
JuVaughn Harrison
JuVaughn Harrison will become the first American since Jim Thorpe in 1912 to compete in both the Olympic long jump and high jump. The LSU star put his name on the map, winning both the long jump and high jump just five hours apart in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Harrison had a personal best jump of 27 feet, 9.5 inches, making him second in the world behind Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou. Harrison was the NCAA indoor and outdoor long jump champion and will be looking to contend for a medal.
Steffin McCarter
Steffin McCarter grew up in Copperas Cove, Texas, the same hometown as Robert Griffin III, and attended the same high school as Olympic gold medalist Johnny “Lam” Jones. McCarter tied his personal best at the U.S Olympic Trials with a 27 feet, 1.25 inch jump to earn the third long jump spot on the Olympic team.
McCarter competed for the University of Texas and placed third at the NCAA indoor championships in 2017 and fifth in the indoor championships in 2018. McCarter didn’t participate in the NCAA outdoor championship after suffering two torn hamstrings and undergoing surgery to remove a tumor in his hip. He returned in 2019 to place 10th at the NCAA outdoors and sixth at the U.S. Nationals.
Who is on Team USA in the women’s long jump?
Quanesha Burks
Quanesha Burks reached her first Olympic team by jumping three spots from sixth place to third with a personal best of 22 feet, 10 inches at the U.S. Olympic Trials. The Hartselle, Ala., native has been a part of the world scene since 2014, placing fifth at the under 20 world championships and eighth at the 2015 Pan American games. Burks placed ninth at the 2016 Olympic trials but went on to finish fourth at the 2018 world indoor championships and second at the 2018 nationals.
Tara Davis
Tara Davis, 22, is one of the favorites to take home gold in Tokyo and extend the U.S. Olympic team’s streak. The California native broke Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s 36-year-old long jump record in March 2021. Three months later, Davis became an NCAA champion for the University of Texas in June. She has the second-best jump this year of 23 feet, 5.25 inches, behind only Nigeria’s Esme Brume.
Brittney Reese
The U.S. women have won gold in the last two Olympic long jumps, and with two Olympic medals and four world titles already on her resume, Brittney Reese will compete in her fourth Olympic games in Tokyo.
Reese won the gold medal in the long jump at the 2012 London Games and took home silver at the 2016 Rio Games behind fellow American Tianna Bartoletta. With a personal best of 23 feet, 11.75 inches, she ranks first among active long jumpers with two of the best jumps of all time. Reese will look to reach her third straight podium at the Tokyo Games.
