TOKYO, Japan, (CMC )— IN a thrilling men’s long jump final that came down to the final rounds, Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle captured the silver medal with a season’s best leap of 8.34m here on Wednesday at the World Athletics Championships.

The medal completes a full set of World Championships hardware for Gayle, adding to the gold he won in Doha in 2019 and the bronze he secured in Budapest two years ago.
Gayle seized the lead immediately, launching a massive 8.33m jump in the very first round.

He held onto the top spot until the fifth round, where he was overtaken by Italy’s 20-year-old rising star, Mattia Furlani, who soared to a personal best of 8.39m to claim a stunning gold medal.
“Well, being on the podium honestly is a very good feeling,” Gayle said after the competition. It’s great to have three medals now for Jamaica: bronze, silver, and gold. I was hoping for the gold, really, but unfortunately, my hamstring wasn’t giving me much today.”

Gayle revealed he has been battling a sore hamstring since the preliminary rounds. “I tried my best to try to get it on the first jump, but I knew after that, I didn’t have much to offer… It was a great competition, though. The Italian, deserved it.”

Furlani, the indoor world champion, now becomes the youngest ever winner of the World Athletics long jump title. China’s Yuhao Shi took the bronze medal with a season’s best of 8.33m.
Gayle’s silver brought Jamaica’s medal tally at the championships to six, one gold, four silver, and one bronze.

On the track, Jamaica’s sprinters continued to impress. In the men’s 200m, Christopher Taylor, Adrian Kerr, and Bryan Levell all secured their spots in the semi-finals.
Taylor and Kerr finished third in their respective heats, while Levell powered to a first-place finish with the fastest ever 200m heat, clocking 19.84 seconds to lead the qualifiers into Thursday semi semi-finals.

On the women’s side, Shericka Jackson looked dominant, winning her 200m heat in 22.33 seconds. She was joined in the next round by Ashanti Moore, who placed second in her heat in 22.57.
Shiann Salmon continued her strong season, clocking a season’s best of 54.03 seconds to qualify for the final of the women’s 400m hurdles.
In the field, Jordan Scott made light work of qualifying for the men’s triple jump final, sealing his spot with a first-round effort of 17.19m.

Grenada’s two-time world champion Anderson Peters led the qualifiers in the men’s javelin with a season’s best throw of 89.53m. Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad & Tobago also punched his ticket to the final with his best effort of 83.93m.