Long jump: Applecross resident aims for world championships

THE dust has barely settled on Caitlin Blackman’s bronze medal-winning performance at the Oceania Area Championships, but the 16-year-old has already shifted her focus to next year’s World Under-20 Championships.

Specifically, the Applecross resident is thinking about the 27cm she needs to add to her best-ever long jump to qualify for the prestigious event, which will be held in Finland next July.

In March, competing in the Under-18 age group as a 16-year-old, Caitlin leapt a personal best 5.87m to win the silver medal at the Australian Junior Championships.

She added a bronze medal in the Under-18 triple jump (12.01m) for good measure, booking a ticket to Fiji for the Oceania Area Championships earlier this month.

In between the two events, she completely overhauled her long jump technique, a move she hopes will give her the boost required to make the leap from gifted junior to future Olympian.

“I only jumped 5.35m in Fiji, which is not very good, but considering the conditions – we were running into a headwind – and the fact I’ve changed my technique, it was all right,” Caitlin said.

“I managed to just pip two New Zealanders for third place, so it was great to come away with a medal.”

Caitlin now has nearly nine months to hone her new technique, called a hitch kick, before next year’s Australian Nationals, which double as a qualifier for the World Under-20 Championships.

“It’s frustrating to go backwards in terms of distance initially, but you just have to keep trying and have faith that it is going to pay off in the long run,” she said.

“Most of the Olympic athletes use this technique and a girl that I train with has improved a lot since she adopted it, so I have to just keep persisting with it.”

Caitlin will need to jump 6.14m and win the Australian Nationals to guarantee herself a spot at the Under-20 World Championships.

“It’s really difficult to add distance to your jump at this point, you basically have to get everything right at the same time – your speed, your timing, your jump, your technique in the air,” she said.

While long jump is Caitlin’s favourite event, she is a regular participant in the full range of track and field events for her local club Melville Roar, and in December last year was a member of the 4x100m relay team that won gold and set a new WA record at the State Relays.

She also coaches at the club and in addition to her four weekly training sessions, she does pilates and gym work.

“My ultimate goal is to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. The 2024 Olympics are what I’m aiming for,” she said.

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