With the full podium from the Rome 2024 European Athletics Championships set to compete in Birmingham and in great form, the women’s long jump could be explosive.
Germany’s Malaika Mihambo will look to take her third title, after winning in 2018 and 2024, but any medal would mark her fifth consecutive podium at these championships.
European record - Galina Chistyakova (URS) 7.52m
European lead - Larissa Iapichino (ITA) 7.12m
Championship record - Heike Drechsler (GDR/ GER) 7.30m
Roma 2024 medallists:
- Malaika Mihambo (GER), 7.22m
- Larissa Iapichino (ITA), 6.94m
- Agate de Sousa (POR), 6.91m
Five names to watch:
- Larissa Iapichino (ITA)
- Malaika Mihambo (GER)
- Hilary Kpatcha (FRA)
- Agate de Sousa (POR)
- Jazmin Sawyers (GBR)
With five seven metre jumpers in Birmingham, the women’s long jump could be an extremely close contest, despite just Mihambo and Larissa Iapichino having surpassed that distance this year.
Iapichino will be looking for revenge after her German rival, Mihambo, took gold in Rome to halt the Italian’s dream of winning the title in front of the home crowd.
Now having jumped 7.12m at the start of July, Iapichino is certainly a challenger for the gold to earn her first senior outdoor major title after winning the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
Though Mihambo will be eager to become a three-time European champion and will be confident in the possibility after winning the London Diamond League with 7.05m, amongst those she beat was Iapichino.
France’s Hilary Kpatcha will be looking to step up to the podium after placing fifth in 2024 and jumping 6.98m on 24 July to win the French Championships.
While Rome 2024 bronze medallist Agate de Sousa will be targeting an upgrade after winning the world indoor championships in March with 6.92m, though her outdoor season’s best stands at just 6.75m.
An athlete whose results show the opposite trend, with a peak seemingly on time for Birmingham, is Great Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers.
After missing the 2024 Championships due to injury, Sawyers is back on the international scene and just took gold at the Commonwealth Games with 6.93m (+2.7m/s) and a second jump in the same series of 6.90m.
Sweden’s Maja Askag will also be looking to claim her first senior major medal as she competes in both the long and triple jump after taking world U20 titles in 2021 in both events.
But with a further five athletes that have jumped 6.80m or more, qualification for the final itself will be a battle before any of the athletes can look at medals.