Cork's Reece Ademola smashes Irish Under-23 long jump record

Corkman Reece Ademola obliterated the Irish Under-23 indoor long jump record on Tuesday with a head-turning performance at the Aarhus Sprint'n'Jump meet.

The 20-year-old secured victory with a second-round leap of 7.86 metres, which is 27 centimetres more than the previous record jump by Ciaran McDonagh back in March 1996. Ademola finished above North Macedonia's Andreas Trajkovski [7.67 metres] and Dane Kasper Larsen [7.63].

The 6'9" Leevale AC man is a highly exciting prospect.

He had to take a two-year break from the sport when he was 17 as growth-spurt-related injury issues hampered his progress. Those problems have eased now - and he's making up for lost time.

Last September he extended his national Under-23 long jump outdoor record at the Citti' di Padova meet in Italy, hitting the 7.97m mark to finish third.

Only one Irish athlete has ever broken the 8-metre barrier, and that's McDonagh, who jumped 8.07m in 2005.

Reece Ademola: The Corkman on a long jump mission