Molly Palmer risks injury by jumping into a sand pit that wasn’t raked and is asked to re-take her attempt, eventually finishing 10th.
When British long jumper Molly Palmer took to the runway at the World Indoor Championships in Toruń on Sunday (March 22) she had high hopes of making an impact on her senior international debut.
The 22-year-old took off and was flying through the air when she suddenly realised the sand hadn’t been raked following the previous athlete’s attempt.
“When I finished the jump I thought ‘was this not raked?’ I thought I was going crazy. Then everybody confirmed it wasn’t raked.
“I wasted energy and have just come back from a serious injury so there was a strong risk of getting injured again as I’ve just returned from rehab. It completely ruined my jump as I landed straight in the ‘hole’ and have no idea how good it might have been. At this level of competition I would have expected better.
“On my second jump I did a dive roll, showing my gymnastics background. But today was one of the most eventful competitions I have ever had… and a very stressful situation to be in.”
Palmer bounced back to jump 6.49m on her third attempt to finish 10th overall in a competition won by Agate De Sousa of Portugal with 6.92m.
Larissa Iapichino of Italy, the daughter of former English Schools champion and 1997 world indoor champion Fiona May, was runner-up with 6.87m, winning her first-ever global senior medal.
Natalia Linares of Colombia won bronze with 6.80m.
De Sousa said: “Today, I did not think about my opponents and, in my mind, just competed with myself and nobody else. I came here to jump seven metres and that was all I had in my mind. It did not come today but I know that it will come again. This is a gold medal so I am sure it will change my life in a positive way.”