by Stuart Weir
Shara Proctor won the London LJ with a leap of 6.91 meters, photo by Getty Images/British Athletics
Lorraine Ugen, WL at 7.05 meters, photo by Getty Images for British Athletics
This is the third and final piece by Stuart Weir for London Diamond League for Day one. Watch for his pieces on Sunday. I was in Wisconsin, watching the meet on You Tube. Just not the same. I hope to see many of you later this season at some of the final meets of the season. Thanks to Stuart Weir for putting up with the crazy travel, and my notes in the middle of the night.
Women’s long jump
British women’s long jump is in a good place. Let’s start with the British Championship earlier this month when Lorraine Ugen leapt to a world lead of 7.05, of which she said: “I was expecting eventually to jump seven metres but I wasn’t particularly expecting it on at the British championships”, she said adding, “but I am very glad that it happened!”
Commenting on the wider question, she added: “When I looked at the start list and saw 18 entrants, I thought ‘Whoa, that is a lot of people’But that was good because some years we haven’t had too many people. We have world class jumpers but most of the time it was three people chasing three spots so it wasn’t as exciting as the three people were going to get the three spots. This year we had four jumpers with the European qualifying distance and a fifth one got it during the competition”. Last week Ugen won the Athletics World Cup long jump and this week it was the turn of Shara Proctor to excel.
Proctor won the Anniversary Games long jump with a series of jumps of 6.82, 6.80. 6.87, 6.91, 6.83. Ugen was second in 6.88. Jazmin Sawyers, sixth today has jumped 6.86 this year. Proctor said of her win: “It was fun today. I love competing in this stadium. The runway felt amazing, the crowd was amazing and I finally put it together and felt comfortable on the runway and I showed what I’m capable of. I’m confident of what I can do and today showed that. I got my mind together and perfected it.
The whole day here is amazing because everyone inside this stadium knows their track and field. We appreciate all the support they give us and all athletes put together good performances out here and that’s thanks to them”.
And talking of long jumps, day 2 will see Greg Rutherford jump in London for the last time.
