Australian Bronwyn Thomson
jumps to victory in the Women's
Long Jump final.
Australians have won gold and silver in the Women’s Long Jump, with Bronwyn Thompson jumping for gold and a Games Record of 6.97m, and Kerrie Taurima jumping 6.57m.
Celine Laporte from Seychelles’ reached 6.57m which put her level with Taurima but was relegated to third place due to a count-back, in which her last two attempts were not counted.
Thompson has been in top form in the Long Jump after competing in a pre-Games meet in Melbourne, taking first with a jump of 6.91m. She also competed in the Victorian Open Athletics Championships in February, jumping 6.44m.
In 2002 at the Manchester Games she came sixth, and at the Athens Olympics she narrowly missed a medal, finishing fourth.
These performances have been encouraging considering she underwent surgery to remove a tumour in her foot ahead of the Sydney Olympics, and underwent a knee cap scraping in 2003. She also suffered a badly injured knee in 2004, again requiring surgery. However, it seems a gold medal eases the memory of her past injuries.
Second-placed Taurima is married to ‘Jumping’ Jai Taurima, the Sydney Olympic silver medallist and when not training for the event is a Child Care Centre Manager. At the 2005 Australian Championships she won the Long Jump event.
Laporte is a student in Nice, France and also competes in the Heptathlon in which she is ranked 73rd in the world, and 84th in the world in Long Jump.
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