Ultimate preview: women's long jump

World lead: 7.20m Tara Davis-Woodhall (USA) Los Angeles, 14 Jun2026 world list | world rankings

World record: 7.52m Galina Chistyakova (URS) Leningrad, 11 Jun 1988world all-time list | world record progression

The withdrawal of Tara Davis-Woodhall has blown the women's long jump wide open at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.

The world and Olympic champion had been the stand-out performer of 2026, jumping a world-leading 7.20m in Los Angeles in June, but the after-effects of injuries sustained in a recent head-on car collision have forced her out of Budapest.

That leaves European champion Larissa Iapichino as perhaps the woman to beat. The Italian has enjoyed one of the best seasons of her career, earning world indoor silver before improving her national record to 7.12m in Eugene in July.

She then claimed the European title in Birmingham last month and arrives in Budapest having finished second at the Diamond League Final in Brussels with 6.86m.

Monae' Nichols beat her on that occasion, producing 6.91m to secure her first Diamond Trophy. The US jumper has been consistently competitive throughout the season and could capitalise on the absence of her compatriot Davis-Woodhall.

Another US contender, Alyssa Jones, has the second-best mark among the women in the field, having jumped 7.09m in May. World indoor champion Agate de Sousa is the other seven-metre performer in the line-up, reaching exactly 7.00m during qualifying at the European Championships.

The European final also underlined just how little separates many of the leading contenders. Jazmin Sawyers took silver behind Iapichino and Hilary Kpatcha claimed bronze, while De Sousa finished fourth. All four will be reunited in Budapest.

Claire Bryant, the 2025 world indoor champion, adds further depth to the US challenge and was third behind Nichols and Iapichino at the Diamond League Final.

Marthe Koala completes the eight-woman field after stepping into the place vacated by Davis-Woodhall. The Burkina Faso record-holder has already beaten Iapichino this year, taking victory ahead of the Italian in Hengelo in June.

Without the woman who had dominated the event for much of the year, the battle to become the first Ultimate champion suddenly looks considerably harder to call.

Matt Majendie for World Athletics

Title key: 🏅 Olympic champion, 🌍 world champion, 💎 Diamond League champion