TURKU, Finland – The 2026 edition of the Paavo Nurmi Games, a top-tier World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, delivered strong results for Jamaica’s track and field contingent Wednesday, with high jumper Lamara Distin and long jumper Nia Robinson both stepping onto the podium to claim medals.
Distin delivered a near-perfect performance in the women’s high jump competition, clearing five consecutive opening bars on her first attempt to hold the lead for most of the contest. The Jamaican jumped to a height of 1.91 meters to take second place, but fell just short of clinching gold when she failed three consecutive attempts to clear 1.97 meters. The top spot on the podium ultimately went to Ukraine’s Yulia Levchenko, who overcame a rocky start to the competition. Levchenko needed all three attempts to clear the opening 1.78m height, required two tries to get over 1.94m, and successfully cleared 1.97m on her third attempt to secure the win.
In the women’s long jump, Robinson rebounded from a rough opening to take third place. The Jamaican fouled on her first two attempts, putting her at risk of elimination early, before logging a 6.58m jump on her third attempt. She improved her mark in the fifth round to 6.61m with a 1.4m/s tailwind, a new outdoor season best for the athlete, that secured her a podium finish. Jamaican teammate Ackelia Smith finished just outside the top three in fifth place with a jump of 6.53m. American athlete Monae’ Nichols took home the gold with a winning jump of 6.88m, while Great Britain’s Jasmin Sawyers took silver with a 6.62m season best.
Four additional Jamaican athletes finished fifth across their respective events, just outside podium contention. Assinie Wilson, who entered the men’s 400m hurdles as the athlete with the fastest qualifying time, crossed the finish line in 48.98 seconds to take fifth. The race was won by Slovenia’s Matic Gucek, who clocked 48.47s for gold, with Great Britain’s Alastair Chalmers taking silver (48.53s) and Botswana’s Kemorena Tisang securing bronze (48.66s).
In the men’s discus throw, Roje Stona notched a throw of 66.15m to finish fifth. Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh dominated the event to take gold with a 69.13m throw, followed by Sweden’s Daniel Stahl (67.40m) for silver and Australia’s Matt Denny, the current world leader in the event, who took bronze with 67.26m. Finally, in the women’s shot put, Danniel Thomas-Dodd recorded a throw of 18.78m to round out the results for Jamaica in fifth place. American Chase Jackson won the event with a 20.66m throw, followed by the Netherlands’ Jessica Schilder (20.18m) and Canada’s Sarah Mitton (19.47m) to complete the podium.