Brittney Reese in action at the London 2012 Games – from:bleacherreport.com
Article by Giovanni Manenti
The specialty of Long Jump in Athletics experienced its moments of greatest splendor – both in the men’s and women’s fields – at the turn of the 90s, thanks to the epic challenges between the Americans Carl Lewis, Mike Powell and Cuban Ivan Pedroso on the one hand and between the German one Heike Drechsler, American Jackie Joyner and Azzurra Fiona Mayon the other …
Subsequently, this competition gradually faded away, both due to the spectacular nature of the competitions and the results achieved in them, so much so that in the women’s field, for example, the world record is still held by the Soviet Galina Chistyakova with 7.52 m achieved in June 1988 in Leningrad, although the athlete herself did not then follow up on this feat with successes in major international events.
During the new century, vice versa, the better performances were obtained by the two brawling long-distance runners Tatyana Kotova and Tatyana Lebedeva (m.7.42 in June 2002 and m.7.33 at the end of July 2006…), with a few too many suspicions, having subsequently both tested positive in anti-doping tests which deprived them of the medals won in the 2005-’06 seasons the first and 2008-’09 the second…
Here, therefore, is the task of revive the fortunes of the specialty if the protagonist of our history today takes it onundisputed dominator for about a decade at an international level, so much so being at the top of the world ranking on seven occasions (2009-’13 and 2016-’17) of the end of the season drawn up by the prestigious US magazine “Track & Field News”, as well as capable of ensuring for their country the second Olympic Gold Medal in the History of the Games after the one won by Joyner in the Seoul 1988 edition.
Born on September 9, 1986 in Inglewood, California, Brittney Reese came to light during the high school years spent at “Gulfport High School“, in Mississippi, a period in which she won the state titles in both the Long Sleeve and the Triple, and then signed up for the “University of Mississippi” where in addition to Athletics he is also a member of the Basketball team…
Discipline, the latter, then definitively abandoned as soon as the 21-year-old Brittney emerged at the highest national levels during 2007, when she ranked second at the NCAA Championships with a measurement of 6.71 m, obtaining a similar placing at the AAU Championships in Indianapolis with 6.67 m behind Grace Upshawfirst with m.6.74.
Therefore, the selection for i has been obtained World Championships in Osaka at the end of August, Reese finished no better than eighth with 6.60m – after however having obtained their personal best in qualification with m.6.83 – in a Final with the podium monopolized by the three Russians Lebedeva, Kolchanova and Kotova, which we have already discussed…
However, a comforting debut, even more confirmed the following year when the Californian wins the NCAA title with a measurement of 6.93 m and finishes in first place at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, improving to 6.95 m so as to present himself with podium aspirations in his Olympic debut at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Hopes supported by the outcome of the qualifications which saw Reese achieve the best measurement with 6.87 m compared to the 6.79 m of the Brazilian Maurren Maggi and the 6.70 m of Lebedeva, unless they fail to confirm themselves in the Finals, where she finishes no better than fifth with 6.7 m6 – placement later transformed into fourth position due to Lebedeva’s disqualification, silver with 7.03 m – while the Brazilian wins the gold thanks to a jump of 7.04 m obtained on the first try…
For the Californian, however, the “running-in time” he concluded, starting his “magical five years” in which it is practically unbeatable on every front, both national and international as well as in indoor or outdoor meetings.
A winning streak that – in addition to confirming the AAU title for four more consecutive seasons, with a best of 7.19m achieved in 2011 in Eugene – began in 2009 on the occasion of the Berlin World Championships, where the Reese debuts in the Final with m.6.92 and then, after Lebedeva had taken the lead in the second round of jumping with 6.97m (also in this case silver which was later taken away due to qualification…), place the winning move on the third test with 7.10 m to establish his personal best…
After you confirmed in mid-September 2009, also winning the “IAAF World Athletics Finals” in Thessaloniki, the Californian inaugurates the following season, devoid of major outdoor events, by winning the first of hers four indoor world titles at the Iridata Exhibition in mid-March in Doha, where 6.70m is sufficient for her to get the better of the Portuguese Naide Gomes who doesn’t go beyond 6.67m.
With the clear objective of “Olympic Glory”, the now 25 year old Reese introduces himself to the World Championships held at the end of August 2011 in Daegu thanks to the remembered m.7.19 obtained at the AAU Championships – moreover the only jump over 7 meters in the season – where, however, he risks a sensational elimination in qualifying with a modest first jump of 6.41 m and a null, so as to have only one last attempt at his disposal, exploited properly landing at 6.79 m…
In the Final on August 28th, the American shoots a 6.82m in the first test which places her in the leadonly to then incur what is the negative note of her activity, namely committing five null jumps, luckily for her without consequences given that none of her opponents manages to do better, with the silver and bronze won by the Latvian Ineta Radevica and the Belarusian Nastassia Ivanova with the respective measurements of 6.76 m and 6.74 m.
It is in fact common opinion that if had Reese been able to combine a better jumping style and technique with her physical structure (1.73 m and 64kg), she would have been able to get closer to 7.40 m and perhaps beyond, but on the other hand you can’t have everything and, after all, the season leading up to the key event of the London Games sees the athlete confirm the world title in Doha at the Indoor World Championships taking place on 10 and 11 March 2012 in Istanbul…
Undermined by her compatriot Janay deLoach, here is the Californian again “plays with fire”, with two initial nulls in the Final, before landing at 6.82 m which currently places her in third place in the provisional ranking and then extending on the fourth attempt to 6.92 m to take the lead and have the almost certainty of victory…
If it weren’t for the fact that in the last round of jumps, her compatriot – until then fourth with a best jump of 6.78m – took a leap of 6.98m from her hat which made her overtake Reese who now has one last attempt at his disposal, managing to react in the best possible way, landing at 7.23 m which still represents the fourth best world performance ever, as well as a US record.
A result that can only reassure the 26-year-old Californian in view of the London Olympics, for which she qualified by establishing herself with 7.15m at the Eugene Trials at the end of June, from which Chelsea Hayes and deLoach also obtained passes to the Games with 7.10m and 7.08m respectively, so as to form an extremely aggressive trio in the hunt for the podium…
Race that includes qualifiers on 7 August 2012 and the Final the following daywith Reese once again putting her staff’s coronary arteries at serious risk, with two batting nulls and a third test measured just 6.57 m – the limit set by the IAAF to access the final act was 6.70 m – but still sufficient to enter the list of 12 finalists what ninth best measure.
The best are the British Shara Proctor and deLoach, who obtain m.6.83 and m.6.81 respectively, but at 8.00 pm on August 8th they all start again on equal terms on the “Olympic Stadium” of the English capital, with Reese committing the now usual null in the first round and then, once again stimulated by the Russian Yelena Sokolova’s jump of 7.07 m achieved in the second test, silencing everyone by landing at 7.12 m that is, the measure that allows it to win the Gold Medal…
To complete the podium goes to the regular deLoach, who reaches 6.89m on the fifth attempt to precede Radevica by just one centimeteralthough he would still have obtained this medal since, in addition to the Latvian herself, the Russian Nazarova and the Belarusian Ivanova were subsequently removed from the rankings, having respectively finished in fifth and seventh position, clearly demonstrating how certain performances at the time were at least “to be taken with a pinch of salt“.
So here it is, 24 years after Jackie Joyner’s triumph in Seoul, the American anthem plays again at the awards ceremony for the women’s long jump competition at the Olympics and the credit is all hers, that is, the stubborn, stubborn and awkward Brittney Reese from Inglewood, California…
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