Australia claim gold and silver in women’s long jump, Dale sets a new record

Australia’s Samantha Dale won gold in the Sol2023 Pacific Games women’s long jump and broke fellow competitor Rellie Kaputin’s six-year-old record in the event at Honiara’s National Stadium on Friday.

Dale smashed the record by 22 centimetres, jumping 6 metres and 42 centimetres for Sol2023 gold.

Her Australian teammate Katie Gunn claimed silver with a jump of 6.03m.

Papua New Guinea’s Kaputin claimed bronze with a jump of 5.89m, while watching her Pacific Games record of 6.20m (which she set at the Vanuatu 2017 Pacific Mini Games) taken away from her by Dale.

The 22-year-old Dale, who is the second highest ranked long jump athlete in Australia, said: “It’s always nice getting a record and having your name secured on the sheet when the next time comes around. So yes, it’s exciting to have that in the Pacific Games.”

Gunn said she was not too disappointed to settle for silver. “I actually felt really good. I’ve been having some really consistent training in the weeks leading into it, so it has been really good. I just got a bit unlucky,” she told the Pacific Games News Service.

Kaputin’s bronze in this event is her third at Sol2023, along with bronze medals in the women’s high jump and triple jump.

By Delisha Koime, Pacific Games News Service