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Ruswahl Samaai OLY (born 25 September 1991)[1] is a South African track and field athlete who competes in the long jump. He was the bronze medallist in the event at the 2014 and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2017 he won the bronze medal in the long jump event at the World Championships held in London.[2]
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's athletics | ||
Representing  South Africa | ||
| World Championships | ||
 | 2017 London | Long jump |
| Commonwealth Games | ||
| 2014 Glasgow | Long jump |
| 2018 Gold Coast | Long jump |
| African Championships | ||
| 2014 Marrakech | Long Jump |
 | 2016 Durban | Long Jump |
| 2018 Asaba | Long Jump |
Representing .svg){kind=small} Africa | ||
| Continental Cup | ||
| 2018 Ostrava | Long Jump |
Samaai grew up in a poor neighbourhood of Paarl, living in a shack with his mother. He was driven to compete in athletics and would regularly walk nearly ten kilometres to the local running track to train.[3] He attended Paarl Gimnasium and went on to study transport management at the University of Johannesburg.[4]
He made his first impact on the national scene as a 19-year-old at the 2011 South African Championships. He placed third, behind Godfrey Khotso Mokoena and Luvo Manyonga, and set a personal best of 7.75 m (25 ft 5 in).[5] He improved in 2012 winning the national under-23 championships in a best of 7.94 m (26 ft 1⁄2 in) before repeating his third place at the senior championships. He was runner-up at the University Championships and also came fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 15.79 m (51 ft 9+1⁄2 in). He repeated as universities runner-up in 2013 and added two further centimetres to his best.[6]
Samaai began 2014 with an early world-leading performance of 8.10 m (26 ft 6+3⁄4 in) – a new personal best and his first leap over eight metres. He cleared 8.13 m (26 ft 8 in) in March, placing second to Irving Saladino in the world rankings.[7] At the South African Championships, he came in second place behind Zarck Visser with a near-eight-metre jump.[8] Samaai began competing on the international track and field circuit that year. He had his first podium finish on the Diamond League circuit shortly after, placing third at the Adidas Grand Prix. After that, he was second at the Folksam Grand Prix in Sweden and won at the Meeting Sport Solidarieta in Italy.[6] Samaai was selected to represent South Africa at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and on his international debut, he cleared 8.08 m (26 ft 6 in) in the long jump final to earn the bronze medal.[1][9]
Samaai married long-term girlfriend Alecha Thops on the 3rd of October 2021.
- Long jump – 8.49 m (27 ft 10+1⁄4 in) (2017)
- Triple jump – 16.10 m (52 ft 9+3⁄4 in) (2014)
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 3rd | Long jump | 8.08 m |
| African Championships | Marrakech, Morocco | 3rd | Long jump | 7.84 m (w) | |
| 2015 | World Championships | Beijing, China | 20th (q) | Long jump | 7.79 m |
| 2016 | World Indoor Championships | Portland, United States | 5th | Long jump | 8.18 m |
| African Championships | Durban, South Africa | 1st | Long jump | 8.40 m (w) | |
| Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 9th | Long jump | 7.97 m | |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 3rd | Long jump | 8.32 m |
| 2018 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 6th | Long jump | 8.05 m |
| Commonwealth Games | Gold Coast, Australia | 3rd | Long jump | 8.22 m | |
| African Championships | Asaba, Nigeria | 1st | Long jump | 8.45 m | |
| 2018 | IAAF Continental Cup | Ostrava, Czech Republic | 1st | Long jump | 8.16 m |
| 2019 | World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 5th | Long jump | 8.23 m |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 22nd (q) | Long jump | 7.74 m |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, United States | 15th (q) | Long jump | 7.86 m |
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