Ndudi gold for Ireland at Euro Championships, wants to emulate Adeleke

Nigeria-born Irish jumper Elizabeth Ndudi won gold for Ireland in the long jump at the European U20 Athletics Championships in Jerusalem on Thursday.

It is Ireland's first-ever field event gold medal at the championships.

Ndudi jumped 6.56m with her third attempt of the competition. It was good enough to win ahead of Bulgaria's Plamena Mitkova who leapt 6.54m and Laura Raquel Muller of Germany whose best effort was 6.51m.

The jump is also a new Irish U20 record and puts Ndudi second on the all-time Irish list. Only Kelly Proper's national senior record of 6.62m ranks ahead of the 18-year-old's effort.

Late last month, Ndudi won gold in the long jump at the National Senior Championships in Santry.

"I’m in shock," she said.

"I’m amazed how well the event went for me. 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."

Ndudi, speaking in advance of the Championships, referenced Rhasidat Adeleke as an inspiration, both in terms of where her own athletics career was at and where she hoped it would go.

"I was so hungry to win. Since I qualified for the Championships my goal was I want to win this...I will be U20 Long Jump Champion"

 “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, south county Dublin, also joining up with Dundrum-South Athletic Club at that same time, where her talent was further nurtured.

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 AC.

Her school days in Nantes now complete, she will also follow Adeleke into the US collegiate system, starting later this month at the University of Illinois. The head coach there, Petros Kyprianou, is known for his expertise in the long jump, with Ndudi admitting that was a big part of her reason to pick the school.