Originally posted by Powell
1) 8.74/1.2 Dwight Phillips (USA) Eugene OR Jun 7
2) 8.71i Sebastian Bayer (GER) Turin Mar 8
3) 8.63/0.4 Irving Saladino (PAN) Eugene OR Jun 7
----- 8.56/0.8 Saladino Hengelo Jun 1
----- 8.54/0.9 Phillips Hengelo Jun 1
----- 8.51/1.8 Phillips Baie Mahault May 1
4) 8.50/1.3 Godfrey Mokoena (RSA) Madrid Jul 4
----- 8.49/1.9 Bayer Ulm Jul 4
5) 8.42/0.4 Salim Sdiri (FRA) Pierre-Bénite Jun 12
6) 8.38/0.6 Yahya Berrabah (MAR) Rabat May 23
----- 8.37/-0.7 Phillips Carson CA May 16
7) 8.35/1.3 Fabrice Lapierre (AUS) Madrid Jul 4
8) 8.34/2.0 Mitchell Watt (AUS) Madrid Jul 4
----- 8.33/0.9 Mokoena Kalamáta May 30
----- 8.33/1.0 Mokoena Berlin Jun 14
----- 8.33/1.8 Mokoena Ostrava Jun 17
9) 8.30/0.6 Ibrahim Camejo (CUB) Malles Jun 28
Wind assisted:
----- 8.57/2.2 Phillips Eugene OR Jun 27
----- 8.57/3.6 Lapierre Madrid Jul 4
----- 8.43/4.0 Saladino Madrid Jul 4
----- 8.38/2.8 Watt Madrid Jul 4
And we're still six weeks away from the World Championships! Apart from the depth, it just seems like a genuinely more interesting event this year too. Saladino, who has dominated in recent years, has been jumping well but has suffered a couple of losses and will be hard pushed to defend his WCh title. Then there's Dwight Phillips who has bounced back from a couple of low years to rediscover his best ever form and has lost only once this year. Not forgetting, of course, Sebastian Bayer who some believed would not be able to back up his indoor 8.71m, but did so yesterday at the German Champs with an 8.49m jump. Mokoena has only lost twice all year and had three 8.33m competitions in a row before his great series in Madrid where he set an African record of 8.50m. Then behind these four, there's a handful of guys like Sdiri, Berrabah and the two Aussies (Lapierre and Watt) who have surprised us with their 8.40/8.30 jumps and are genuine medal outsiders for Berlin.
Granted, the wind and slight altitude of Madrid helped, but yesterday's competition was epic. The US champs was also great (although again, assisted by the wind) with seven guys over eight metres - been a while since that last happened. Even the juniors have been in great form, with three over 8m and two over 8.15m so far this year.
The LJ has definitely become way more exciting this year and it's going to be one the events I look forward to most in Berlin.
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