Venue Olympic Stadium Competitors 32 from 23 nations | Date 12–13 August 2016 Winning distance 8.38 m | |
The men's long jump competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium between 12–13 August.
Contents
Summary
Greg Rutherford entered as the 2012 Olympic champion and was also the reigning 2015 World Champion and 2016 European champion. American Jarrion Lawson was the top ranked athlete before the Olympics with his jump of 8.58 m and the next best entrant Michel Tornéus was European runner-up to Rutherford. Other strong entrants were Rushwal Samaai, Americans Mike Hartfield and Jeff Henderson, and 2015 world medallists Fabrice Lapierre and Wang Jianan.
The only two automatic qualifiers were the round winners: Henderson in 8.20 m and Wang in 8.24 m. In a low quality display only four athletes went beyond eight metres. Defending champion Rutherford narrowly reached the final in tenth place after two fouls and a moderate third jump. Tornéus of Sweden was eliminated, as was American Hartfield, both failing to go beyond 7.70 m.
From the first jumps the top four separated from the rest. Greg Rutherford jumped 8.18 m, Luvo Manyonga 8.16 m, Jeff Henderson 8.20 m, then Jarrion Lawson 8.19 m, all four within four centimetres at a distance no other jumper would match. In the third round Rutherford took the lead briefly with 8.22 m until Lawson bettered him with 8.25 m. In the fourth round, Manyonga took the lead with 8.28 m, then Rutherford moved into second with a 8.26 m. In the fifth round, Manyonga took first place with a personal best of 8.37 m and kept the lead into the final round with three jumpers to go. On his last attempt, Henderson jumped from fourth to first with a 8.38 m (27 ft 5 3⁄4 in). Rutherford tried to answer but his 8.29 m left him in third. On the final jump of the competition, American collegian Lawson jumped close to Henderson's mark, but his hand inadvertently dragged in the sand at shoulder level costing him an advancement into the medals.
The medals were presented by Adam Pengilly, IOC member, Great Britain and Anna Riccardi, Council Member of the IAAF.
Competition format
The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. In qualification, each athlete jumped three times (stopping early if they made the qualifying distance). At least the top twelve athletes moved on to the final; if more than twelve reached the qualifying distance, all who did so advanced. Distances were reset for the final round. Finalists jumped three times, after which the eight best jumped three more times (with the best distance of the six jumps counted).
Schedule
All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3)
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 8.15m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).