Who holds the women's long jump world record? All the details explained

Who holds the women's long jump world record? All the details explained

Steve Njuguna
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:26 PM

By being one of the original Olympic sports, the long jump is one of the oldest sports in the world. The participant must have speed and timing to achieve their best horizontal leaps. Dive into the women's long jump world record details right here.

Today we discuss the women's long jump world record
Khaddi Sagnia of Sweden competes in the women's long jump event at an IAAF meet. Photo by Soobum Im
Source: Getty Images

The sport attracts physically outstanding athletes. Sometimes sprinters also participate due to the speeds involved. There is a sizeable run up to the jumping board, and the jumper has to be wary of disqualification if they miss their reference point.

First ever women's long jump world record

The first women's long jump world record was officially recorded in 1922. It belonged to Maria Mejzilkova II of Czechoslovakia, who jumped a distance of 5.16m. The international athletics community has ratified 36 more records since that first one.

Current women's long jump world record

The current women's long jump world record holder is Galina Chistyakova. She set it while participating in Leningrad before the 1988 Olympics. She eventually took home the bronze medal at the games. At the time, she was competing on behalf of the Soviet Union, but upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, she started competing on behalf of Slovakia.

Galina is the current women's long jump world record holder
Galina set the record before the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Gray Mortimore/Allsport
Source: Getty Images

Women's long jump world record in metres

The record in metres is 7.52 m. The women's long jump world record in feet is 18.8 ft.

Who is the current world leading women’s long jumper?

The closest athlete to breaking Galina's attempt has been German long jumper Malaika Mihambo. She jumped 7.30 metres to win the 2019 IAAF World championships event in Doha, Qatar. Mihambo also won gold at the 2020 Olympics. Mihambo's father is of Tanzanian descent.

Mihambo has come close to breaking the olympic women's long jump world record
Malaika Mihambo in action. Photo by Christian Petersen
Source: Getty Images

African record holder in the women’s long jump

The African leader in the event is Nigeria's Ese Brume. She has a personal best of 7.17 metres. Brume is also a two-time Commonwealth Games champion, winning gold at the 2014 games in Glasgow and the 2022 games in Birmingham. She won Bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and silver at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Brume is the African record holder in the women's long jump.
Brume has had an illustrious career in the event. Photo by Cameron Spencer
Source: Getty Images

Asian record holder in the women’s long jump

The Asian women's record holder is Yao Weili of China. She achieved the feat in 1993 with a jump of 7.01 metres.

Men's long jump world record holder

The current men's record is held by Mike Powell of the USA. He set a distance of 8.95 metres at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

The long jump is the ultimate feat when testing the farthest distance a human can jump. Its difficulty is underlined by the fact that the women's world record has remained unbroken for the past 35 years.

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Authors
Steve Njuguna photo
Steve Njuguna
Steve Njuguna is a media professional with close to a decade of experience in the sports media industry. He has previously worked as a sports journalist with Bamba Sports TV, Vybez Radio and The Nairobian newspaper.
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