Sawyers leaves past disappointments behind to win Commonwealth long jump gold
England's Jazmin Sawyers won the women's long jump gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a leap of 6.93m, overcoming a serious Achilles injury and previous near-misses. The 32-year-old finished ahead of Nigeria's Ruth Usoro and Australia's Brooke BuschKuehl.
For years, Jazmin Sawyers had known the pain of falling short on the biggest stages. But at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 32-year-old from England finally turned that heartbreak into triumph, taking the women's long jump title with a best effort of 6.93m.
Sawyers' fourth-round jump proved decisive, placing her above Nigeria's Ruth Usoro, who reached 6.87m, and Australia's Brooke BuschKuehl, who managed 6.80m. The gold medal marked a remarkable comeback after a ruptured Achilles tendon in her take-off leg required surgery and forced her to miss the 2024 Olympics. Instead of competing in Paris, she spent the Games working as a commentator for the BBC.
Previous setbacks had also included a fourth-place finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and failure to reach the final at the 2023 World Championships. On a memorable evening at Scotstoun, however, all those frustrations fell away.
"It hasn't properly hit me how this is the thing I've been telling myself all the horrible bits are for," Sawyers said. "The feeling is overwhelming. I will do the horrible bits 100 times over, I'll do it and do it and do it. This is amazing."
The victory brought extra shine to an evening that also saw England take silver in the mixed 4x400m relay, while Owen Heard earned bronze in the pole vault. Sawyers now prepares to represent Great Britain at the European Championships in Birmingham starting on 10 August, but she wants to carry the Glasgow memories with her.
"Twelve years ago almost to the day, I won a silver here in Glasgow (2014 Commonwealth Games) at my first major championships. It was a shock silver and I've held Glasgow close to my heart ever since," she added. "It was the start of my career and so sensational and I had the time of my life. I take that as one of the best moments of my entire career, but when you've done that there's only one thing to do which is to upgrade."
