JJ Jegede

JJ Jegede (born 3 October 1985) is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the long jump. He finished fourth in the long jump at the 2012 European Athletics Championships, just seven centimetres off a medal.

JJ Jegede
JJ Jegede in 2013
Personal information
Nationality Great Britain
Born (1985-10-03) 3 October 1985
Newham, United Kingdom
Height5 ft 10.5 in (179.1 cm)
Weight11 st 7 lb (73 kg)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)Long jump
ClubNewham & Essex Beagles
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)Long jump 8.11 m (London 2012)

He works as a personal trainer and as mentor for young people.[1]

He was not selected for the British team for the 2012 Olympics, as he did not have the "A" standard of 8.20m.[2] He competed at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and European Championships in Zurich, making the final in both.

Early life

Jegede grew up in Hackney as the youngest of four children.[3] He had a rough upbringing, going through a number of evictions when his mother was not able to pay rent.[4] He attended Barking Abbey School.[5] He wanted to become a professional footballer and was offered trials at Norwich and Tottenham Hotspur, but at the beginning of secondary school he was diagnosed with Osgood–Schlatter disease, which stopped him from playing.[5]

Promotional work

In 2011, Jegede jumped over three Mini Coopers as part of an advertising campaign for the Mini London 2012 edition models.[6] He is involved in the Metropolitan Police's Met Track scheme,[7] as well as Sky's Living For Sport campaign.[8] As part of this, he has done numerous school visits.[9][10][11]

Statistics

Personal bests
Event Mark Competition Venue Date
60 m 6.97i Birmingham Games Birmingham, Great Britain 2 February 2008
10 0m 10.89 London Inter Club Challenge Hendon, Great Britain 26 July 2008
200 m 22.42 Loughborough International Loughborough, Great Britain 18 May 2008
Long jump 8.11 London Grand Prix Crystal Palace, Great Britain 13 July 2012

References
  1. "JJ Jegede - Sky Sports Living for Sport". livingforsport.skysports.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  2. Nash, Matthew (28 July 2012). "JJ Jegede: I was tempted to ditch Great Britain after Olympic snub". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  3. "JJ Jegede - GB Athlete & London Personal Trainer". www.jjjegede.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  4. Hart, Simon (June 28, 2012). "JJ Jegede Telegraph Interview". The Telegraph. The Telegraph. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  5. "Flown From the Nest - JJ Jegede". www.ex-canaries.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  6. "Olympic Long Jump Hopeful Jumps Over Three Minis In London". The Huffington Post. 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  7. "JJ Jegede". Met-Track. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  8. "JJ Jegede". Sky Sports - Living for Sport. Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  9. Sessions, George. "GB athlete visits local school". Newham Recorder. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  10. "JJ Jegede | Joseph Swan Academy". www.josephswan.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  11. Caron. "JJ Jegede 'People are Awesome!'". www.gbhs.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
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