Tajay Gayle

Tajay Gayle is a Jamaican track and field athlete born on 2nd August 1994. He is a native of Kingston city of Jamaica. Gayle specializes in Long Jump and represents Jamaica in that event.

Background:

Tajay Gayle was born to Gayle Sr. and Nanoney Linton. He was born and brought up in an August Town in Kingston, known for violence and crime.

Tajay had an athletic interest at a young age. He did running with local boys and used to line up the children and jump over them. His aunt, Marva Linton, was his biggest supporter. He attended Papine High School in Kingston, where his athletic career began.

After graduating from Papine High School, Tajay Gayle joined the MVP Track Field, where he has been training under Stephen Francis since 2014. He had competed and won medals in Long Jump at the ISSA Boys’ and Girls’ Championships.

Rise to Glory:

Tajay Gayle received his career breakthrough in 2015 when he won the 100m title at the Jamaica National Championships. The following year, in April, he competed at the MVP Track and Field Meet, where he clinched the title in 200m by clocking 21.34s.

In 2017, Tajay won his first national medal in Long Jump by winning Bronze by leaping at a distance of 7.87m at the Jamaica National Championships in Kingston. In 2018, he won the national Silver medal at the championships. That year, Tajay clinched the Silver medal in Long Jump at the NACAC Championships in Toronto, Canada.

In 2019, Tajay won his first national title in Long Jump at the Jamaica National Championships. That year, he won the Silver medal in Long Jump indoor at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham, London.

Tajay Gayle’s 8.69m is the national record in Long Jump and the 11th highest jump in the world.

Major Achievements:

Tajay Gayle made his professional international debut in 2018 at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, where he finished 4th in the Long Jump with a distance of 8.12m. The following year, he won the Silver medal in Long Jump by leaping 8.17m at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

Tajay shot to national fame after he became the first Jamaican athlete to be crowned as World Champion in Long Jump at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Qatar, Doha. That year, he won the Long Jump title with a distance of 8.21m at the World Athletics Challenge in Nanjing, China.

Tajay Gayle will compete in his debut Olympics at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is one of the strong contenders to win a medal in Long Jump.