Nigeria’s Charles Edward Godfred ended his debut appearance at the World Athletics Championships in disappointment after failing to progress from the men’s long jump qualification in Tokyo on Monday,
The 21-year-old, who came into the competition as the reigning Nigerian champion and a former African U-20 gold medallist, managed a best effort of 7.79m in Qualification Group A.
That distance placed him 13th in the pool and outside the cut for the final, which admitted only the top 12 athletes overall across both groups.
The automatic qualifying standard was set at 8.15m, a mark Godfred had hoped to approach having entered the championships with a season’s best of 8.10m.However, after fouling his opening attempt, he registered 7.68m on his second before stretching to 7.79m with his third and final leap, which still proved short of the qualifying mark.
Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou, the defending Olympic and world champion, led Group A with 8.17m to secure automatic qualification. Jamaica’s Nikaoli Williams followed with 8.15m, while Spain’s Jaime Guerra (8.13m) also advanced.In Group B, Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle topped the field with 8.28m, with Cuba’s Lester Lescay producing a season’s best of 8.21m to book his place in the final. Seven jumpers in total cleared 8.10m in what was a highly competitive round.
