In some ways, 2025 felt like a passing of the guard since it was the first time we saw somebody other than Miltiádis Tentóglou win a major Championship since 2022.
What does the long jump have in store for us in 2026? The main storyline brewing is whether Tentóglou will become the first anointed champion of the World Athletics Ultimate Championships or if the defending World Champion Mattia Furlani will keep his throne.
If Tentóglou returns to the form that earned him two Olympic gold medals and a World Championship in 2023, it will likely take more than the the 8.39-meter winning jump from this year’s championships to take home gold.
Of course, Furlani and Tentóglou aren’t the only candidates for winning the 2026 World Ultimate Championships being held in Budapest from September 11–13. Twenty-two men jumped over the 8.20-meter mark in 2025, showing a resurgence in the event after a lull over most of the last decade. Let’s take a look at some of the favorites to finish on the podium this September.
Mattia Furlani
Mattia Furlani started his 2025 season by winning the World Indoor Championships. Although he had been knocking on the door the year before, it marked the 20-year-old’s first world title at the senior level.
Furlani ended his season by jumping a new wind-legal personal best of 8.39 meters at the World Championships in Tokyo on a day when defending champion Miltiádis Tentóglou was battling a calf issue.
Mattia Furlani will be turning 21 next month, and for the first time, Furlani will be heading into the 2026 season as the man to beat.
Given his age and his relative newness to the event, it seems overwhelmingly likely that Furlani could take another step forward in 2026. Examining the all-time list, many of the top performances came from jumpers in their late 20s or even over 30, so he has plenty of time to continue improving in the event.
It’s amazing to think that Furlani didn’t switch to the long jump full-time until he was 18 in 2023, and by the end of the year, he had already posted a slightly windy 8.44 meters and a legal 8.24 meters into a negative wind.
Will this be the year where we see Furlani go over 8.50 meters, a mark that only 31 people have reached in history? And will that be enough to fend off Tentóglou at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships, capping this season in Budapest?
Miltiádis Tentóglou
Miltiádis Tentóglou has the second farthest personal best of any active jumper with 8.65 meters, behind only Tajay Gayle’s mark of 8.69 meters from 2019. He also has by far the most extensive resume of any active jumper. Along with the achievements we’ve already mentioned, he’s also won three European Championships and two World Indoor Championships.
Tentóglou has an extensive history of coming up big in championship meetings, including winning the Tokyo Olympics with his round six jump. Back in the same stadium this past summer for the World Championships, he unfortunately wasn’t able to find any of this same magic.
Tentóglou injured his calf on his second attempt and finished with a best of 7.83m from his round one attempt. It marked a disappointing end to an injury-plagued season, but with the injuries behind him, he seems to be on the rise again and has already posted some impressive jumps from training on social media.
According to an interview with European Athletics, Tentóglou is set to open his season at the Czech Indoor Gala on February 3rd, going head-to-head with Furlani before competing again at the Belgrade Indoor Meeting about a week later.
Tajay Gayle
Tajay Gayle peaked at the perfect time in 2025, jumping 8.34 meters at the World Championships to secure a second-place finish. It marked Gayle’s third World Championship medal, after winning gold back in 2019 and bronze in 2023.
His mark of 8.34 meters was his farthest since his World Championship-winning jump of 8.69 meters in 2019. He’s jumped over 8.20 meters every year since 2018 and should be near the top of the world’s top list at the end of the year.
He posted a video earlier today of his first jump session of the year.
Simon Ehammer
Simon Ehammer primarily competes in the decathlon but boasts a personal best of 8.45 meters in the long jump. He’s coming off a season where he finished fourth at the World Championships in the long jump, with a mark of 8.30 meters, but dropped out of the decathlon after no height in the high jump.
Competing in both the decathlon and the long jump isn’t an easy feat, and being talented in multiple events could arguably be a hindrance for Ehammer, since it means splitting his training time between events.
He’s shown that he’s able to consistently jump over 8.20 meters, and if he ever fully commits to the long jump, it’s possible that even bigger jumps could be on their way. With no decathlon at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships this year, maybe this is the year.
Jorge Hodelin
Jorge Hodelin will be turning 19 this June and is coming off a season where he jumped 8.34 meters at the Cuban U20 Championships a few weeks after jumping over the eight-meter barrier for the first time. The mark was only four centimeters short of Furlani’s World U20 record set the year before.
There seems to be an endless amount of jumping talent coming out of Cuba, and given Hodelin’s age, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him jump over 8.50 meters in the future. However, it’s no secret that many of the top jumpers from Cuba end up competing for other nations, and this often means having to sit out of international competition for several years.
Liam Adcock
Liam Adcock had his breakout year in 2025, jumping a personal best of 8.34 meters to win the Rome Diamond League. He just missed a spot in the World Championship final in 2025, finishing seventh in his qualifying section with a jump of 7.94 meters.
If Adcock could put another jump like this one together at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships, it could be enough to capture a spot on the podium.
Carey McLeod
McLeod has consistently been one of the top long jumpers in the world since 2020, when he first went over eight meters. He posted a mark over 8.33 meters each of the past three seasons and has won the Jamaican championships the past two years. He jumped his season’s best of 8.33 meters in his season opener at the Adidas Atlanta City Games.
One of the challenges for McLeod has been achieving his top performances at championship meets. If he can put everything together at the end of the season, he could be another jumper in medal contention at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships.
His compatriot and Olympic Silver medalist Wayne Pinnock will have to sit out of international competition this year as he switches his nationality from Jamaica to Turkey.
Yuhao Shi
Shi took home bronze at the World Championships this past season with a jump of 8.33 meters. Before this, his top World Championship finish was a sixth-place finish way back in 2017.
His 8.33-meter jump was his farthest since he set his personal best of 8.43 meters in 2018. Despite being one of the older jumpers on this list, he’s still only 27 and less than two years removed from running a blistering 6.52 seconds in the 60-meter.
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