Rarely if ever has any Irish athlete announced their arrival on the big stage with the style and grace of Elizabeth Ndudi. If it’s any sign of things to come the new generation of Irish athletes looks increasingly golden too.
Because in winning the gold medal in the long jump at the European Under-20 Championships in Jerusalem – a first field event gold for Ireland in the 53-year history of this level of competition – Ndudi also produced the performance of her young life right when it mattered most. That it itself is a rare and prized hallmark.
Closer observers of the sport knew such potential was there. Still only 18, Ndudi had already won Irish senior titles in the long jump this year, indoors first and more recently outdoors, before on Thursday morning inside the Givat Ram Stadium in Jerusalem she made another giant leap – twice improving her lifetime best to land that gold medal with a best of 6.56 metres.
That performance also moved her second on the Irish all-time list behind Kelly Proper’s national record of 6.62m, set indoors back in 2010.
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Plenty of Irish athletes first announced themselves at these Under-20 Championships, starting with John Treacy winning silver over 5,000m back in 1975. And it was at these same championships in Tallinn, two years ago, when Rhasidat Adeleke further marked her potential, winning a brilliant 100m-200m sprint double, also at age 18, before making giant strides this year in the 400m.
Ndudi’s victory now brings to 24 the number of medals Ireland has won at under-20 level, half of which have been won since 2017. Hers, however, will always be the first gold in any field event.
It came the morning after Nick Griggs won silver in the 3,000m, by his admission tinged with some disappointment given he’d won the title two years ago. There were encouraging Irish performances in other field events earlier in the week, Oisín Joyce sixth in the men’s javelin with a best of 70.25m and Ava Rochford 10th in the women’s high jump, equalling her best of 1.80m.
Jerusalem, however, will always be remembered for Ndudi’s arrival. She produced a brilliant round of jumps in setting a personal best in the second round of 6.48m (improving on her 6.44m from June), before leaping out to 6.56m in the third round.
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By the end, just 6cm had separated the top four, with Bulgaria’s Plamena Mitkova taking silver with 6.54m and Germany’s Laura Raquel Muller winning bronze with her lifetime best 6.51m.
“I’m in shock, I’m amazed how well the event went for me,” Ndudi said. “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.
“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.”
Born in Dublin, her mother of Irish-Dutch parentage, her father from Nigeria, Ndudi started athletics while at primary school at St Attracta’s in Ballinteer in south county Dublin, also joining up with Dundrum-South Athletic Club at that same time. Then the family moved to Nantes in France in 2016, when Ndudi was aged 11, and in recent years she’s been coached by Julien Guilard at Racing Club Nantes.
Her school days in Nantes now complete, Ndudi will also follow Adeleke into the US Collegiate system, starting later this month at the University of Illinois., where the head coach, Petros Kyprianou, is known for his expertise in the long jump: “He’s coached lots of jumpers who have participated in the Olympics, I’ve only heard great things about him, and when I spoke to him, and I said my goal was to make the Olympics, he said that would be his goal too,” said Ndudi.
She has also been mixing things up with the sprint events too, also running lifetime bests in the 100m (11.83) and the 200m (24.43) this year.
Thursday’s closing session had Irish interest in three of the four relay finals, the men’s 4x400m quartet, anchored by the Mannion brothers Stephen and David, finishing seventh in a national under-20 record of 3:09.75, with Britain winning gold in 3:06.89.
The women’s 4x400m quartet also finished seventh, clocking 3:39.39 behind champions France (3:33.31) while the men’s 4x100m quartet were unfortunately disqualified for baton infringement after likewise finishing seventh originally.
