Elizabeth Ndudi of Dundrum South Dublin AC has won gold for Ireland in the women’s long jump at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Jerusalem today.
The Irish national senior champion put in an outstanding round of jumps with her best leap of 6.56m (+1.4) smashing her own Irish U20 record of 6.44m which she posted just last month.
The result moved the newly crowned European champion to second on the Irish all-time list behind Kelly Proper’s national record of 6.62m set in 2010.
Reacting to her historic achievement of becoming Ireland’s first ever field event champion at European U20 level, Ndudi said:
“I’m in shock, I’m amazed how well the event went for me. I was confident in myself coming in here but it’s a huge improvement and to do it in such a high competition makes the national record so special.”
The Dundrum South Dublin athlete continued:
“I really focused on my mental preparations as well as the physical side coming in here. I made sure to really get in the zone in the morning and evening before sessions. Last year I was a bit nervous and I think that’s why I didn’t post a big jump but today I came in here full of confidence, so I was mentally prepared.”
Bulgaria’s Plamena Mitkova took bronze in a season’s best of 6.54m, with German Laura Raquel Muller completing the podium with her bronze medal in a season’s best of 6.51m.
