World U20 Athletics Championships: Irish girl, Ndudi and USA’s Beckmon battle Nigerian, Ochonogor for historic long jump gold

Reigning European U20 long jump champion, Ireland’s Elizabeth Ndudi and NACAC U23 Champion, USA’s Sophia Beckmon will pose the greatest challenge to Nigeria’s Prestina Ochonogor who, like them, is bidding to make history as the first Nigerian long jumper, man or woman, to win a World Athletics U20 title since 1986 when the Championships’ inaugural edition was held in Athens, Greece.

Only Esther Aghatise in 2002 has made it to the podium when she won the bronze medal in the event Nigeria has made her greatest success globally.

Interestingly, those who leapt to the top of the event and made World and Olympic impact at the senior level did not achieve any success at the U20 level.

Nigeria’s only individual Olympic gold medalist, Chioma Ajunwa did not jump to the podium when she took part in the competition in 1990 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Her 6.46m effort landed her in fifth place.

Blessing Okagbare followed in Ajunwa’s footsteps although she did not make it to the final in Beijing in 2006. She however returned to the same city two years later to jump into Olympic Games silver in the same event.

Ese Brume, one of only two Nigerians to win medals at all global Championships and Games was also not a success at the U20 Championships as she followed in the path cleared by Ajunwa and Okagbare.

The reigning Commonwealth Games, African Games and African Championships champion did not even make it to the final in 2014 in Eugene, Oregon, USA and finished 33rd in the final classification, just a place above bottom placed Dannielle Gibson of Bahamas who had no mark.

Two years later, Brume was in the final of the event at the 2016 Olympics, finishing fifth before jumping to the podium at the 2019 and 2022 World Athletics Championships and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo Japan.

Ochonogor should thus have no pressure in Lima as she bids to make history.

The 18-year-old holds a personal best of 6.79m which is only bettered by Beckmon’s 6.86m while Ndudi, who has won all the major U20 competitions she has taken part in since last year is third with the 6.68m she jumped in May.

Ndudi, like Ochonogor, is bidding to become the first Irish teenager to win an U20 title in the event while Beckmon, who is also in the same category, is also keen on becoming the first American girl, as it were, to win the title.

Interestingly, all three are drawn in the same qualifying group where they will be aiming for the 6.40m automatic qualifying mark or finish among the best 12 that will proceed to the final.