A&M grad Fabrice Lapierre wins third Australian title with windy 28-9 3/4
Apr 18, 2010 | Track and Field
April 18, 2010
PERTH, Aus - In winning his third Australian national long jump title this weekend, Texas A&M graduate Fabrice Lapierre flew to an amazing distance of 28 feet, 9 3/4 inches (8.78), aided by a 3.1 wind, in the final round of the national meet that served as the Commonwealth Games selection trails for Australia.
"It's always there," said Lapierre, who has promised to break the Australia record of 27-10.25 (8.49) this season. "People don't understand that one day I'm going to jump something even more exceptional than that.
"It's only a matter of time until I do something crazy and everyone is going to take notice."
The 26-year-old Lapierre became the sixth best performer ever in the event, under any conditions, with the ninth best performance. Five of the marks among the all-time top 10 join Lapierre's mark as being wind aided while four of the marks were set at altitude sites.
The five jumpers currently ahead of Lapierre on the all-time list are legends in the sport: Mike Powell, Carl Lewis, Bob Beamon, Ivan Pedroso of Cuba and Russian Robert Emmiyan.
The mark produced by Lapierre is the longest jump in the world over the past 15 years, since Pedroso reached a wind-aided distance of 29-2 in 1995, set in the altitude-assisted site of Sestriere, Italy.
A bronze medalist at the last Commonwealth Games held in 2006, this time Lapierre will sport credentials as the 2010 World Indoor champion and two-time World Athletics Final winner (2008, 2009), when the Games are held in New Delhi, India, during the month of October.
The performance by Lapierre served as the highlight of the three-day Australian Athletics Championships held at the new Western Australian Athletics Stadium in Perth.
In the fifth round Lapierre moved into a tie for first place with a leap of 26-8 1/4 (8.13), matching the effort produced by Chris Noffke in the opening round. However, Lapierre found himself back in second place after Noffke hit a legal-wind 27-4 (8.33), fourth best ever by an Australian, on a fifth round effort.
"I wasn't even feeling good today, my groin was hurting a bit and I didn't want to push too hard," noted Lapierre. "But when Chris jumped big, I had to put one out there. He put the pressure on me and I didn't want to lose.
"I wasn't thinking about how far I was going to jump, I was just thinking I knew I had to jump far."
Lapierre answered with his monster jump in the final stanza and Noffke was unable to reply as he only went 23-10 1/4 (7.27) on his last effort.
"I couldn't have cared if the wind was 10 meters per second, that jump was incredible," Lapierre explained. "It just felt natural, like I was flying. It felt so easy, like I was floating through the air.
"Now I know I can do it, and wind or no wind, I'm going to break the Australian record this year."
Long Jump - World All-time list - Any conditions
Mark Metric Athlete Site/Year Age
29-6 w 8.99 (4.4) A Mike Powell (US) Sestriere (92) 28
29-4.5 8.95 (0.3) Powell Tokyo (91) 27
29-2 ¾w 8.91 (2.9) Carl Lewis (US) Tokyo (91) 30
29-2 ½ 8.90 (2.0) A Bob Beamon (US) Mexico City (68) 22
29-2 w 8.89 (2.4) A Ivan Pedroso (Cub) Sestriere (95) 22
29-1 ¼w 8.87 (-0.2) Lewis Tokyo (91) 30
29-1 8.86 (1.9) A Robert Emmiyan (Rus) Tsakhkadzor (87) 22
28-10 ¼ 8.79 (1.9) Lewis Indianapolis (83) 21
28-8 ¾w 8.78 (3.1) Fabrice Lapierre (Aus) Perth (10) 26
