Long jumper Ugen sidelined in medals chase as rhythm eludes her

By Max Hall

Bexleyheath long jumper Lorraine Ugen had a night to forget during the last track and field session of the Commonwealth Games.

Having spoken, during the qualifying heats, about the importance of getting in valid jumps, the former Townley Grammar School pupil failed to deliver five times in her six attempts in the medal contest at the Alexander Stadium.

With invalid attempts after her first two runways, the 30-year-old was under intense pressure to deliver at least 6.41 metres at the third time of asking, to avoid being cut from the final eight.

She promptly rose to the occasion with a 6.60m distance which placed her fifth but that was as good as it got on the evening.

By that stage, Nigerian Ese Brume – appropriately named in a stadium with a considerable number of Brummies among the 27,000 crowd – had set a Commonwealth Games record of 6.99m.

That meant Ugen had to take risks to try and gatecrash the top three with a leap of better than the 6.92m notched by Australian Brooke Buschkuehl but she was unable to complete another valid take-off.

Brume, who jumped 6.99 again with her fourth attempt, brought the crowd to their feet when, having already secured the gold medal, she improved on her own record with a 7m leap on her final effort.

Picture top: A downcast Ugen during the long jump competition (Picture: Max Hall)