Magic eight-metre mark within Ademola's reach

It’s almost a year since Ademola made a splash on the global stage.

Thu, 13 Jul, 2023 - 06:27

Cathal Dennehy

It’s something only one Irish long jumper in history has achieved, a benchmark of true world-class performance. Count out eight large steps in the garden and you’ll grasp why, the ability to soar eight metres in a single bound is limited to the true outliers of athletics.

It’s 18 years since Ciarán McDonagh set the Irish long jump record at 8.07m, which has been untouched since, with Adam McMullen coming closest, jumping 7.99m back in 2018. But if there’s one athlete capable of breaking it, it’s a 6ft 9in 20-year-old from Cork called Reece Ademola.