By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
One of the best Filipino long jump athletes just made waves on the international stage after reigning supreme in the Motonet Grand Prix Lappeenranta last July 20, 2023, held in Finland.
Janry Ubas, a Philippine national team staple, put on a stunning show in Finland to bag the gold medal in the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze-rated event.
The Southeast Asian Games king recorded a score of 7.86 meters which was enough to help him stand in the middle of the podium ceremony.
It was a decent score that separated him via a wide margin from home bet Kasperi Vehmaa who clinched the silver medal with a score of 7.75-m.
Completing the cast of the top three finishers is Zane Branco from Australia who notched the third-place after completing 7.70-m.
Ubas was in the zone despite competing in unfamiliar territory after only needing two attempts to complete his tournament-winning score.
With the momentum-boosting victory, Ubas just cracked the men’s long jump top 55 rankings when he amassed a total of 1,160 points while securing the world no. 53 spot.
Aside from his win in Finland that could boost him more points in his bid for a better world ranking, his seventh-place finish during the World Asian Athletics Championships held in Thailand a week ago already gave him 90 more points.
Ubas and his camp are yet to release his full international tournament calendar. If he continues to remain consistent, he will have a high chance of entering the world’s top 40 men’s long jump athletes.
