Gaisah Sets New African Record

... set world seasonal best
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Ghana?s ace track and field star, Ignatius Gaisah, last Thursday set a new African indoor record in the long jump with a personal best of 8.36 metres at the GE Galan Athletics meet in Stockholm, Sweden. That stellar performance set him out as the world?s leading jumper this year.

Gaisah?s feat once again obliterates the Ghana national record of 8.34 metres which he set at the IAAF World Championship in Helsinki in 2005. And breaking national record has almost become routine for the Holland-based star who since 2003 has broken the national record five times.

Usually it has been the high jumps that have produced the highlight performances at the GE Galan meeting at the Stockholm Globe Arena. But last Thursday it was the men's 5,000m and long jump that turned out as the top events results-wise, thanks mainly to Sileshi Sihine and Gaisah respectively.

Gaisah grabbed the early lead with his 8.06 metres opener, with the world?s leading jumper in 2006, Salim Sdiri, second in 7.84m. And even though Sdiri improved by 29 centimetres in the second round, he found himself further from the lead as the Ghanaian improved by one more centimetre when he leapt to a magnificent 8.36 metres on his second attempt ? a mere 13 centimetres shy of Carl Lewis' Stockholm Globe Arena record set in 1992.

With that jump Gaisah took over as the furthest jumper in 2006 and his new Ghana and African record mark moved him up to number 15 on the all-time indoor list.

It also constituted a new personal best overall for Gaisah whose top mark outdoors is the 8.34m that brought him the silver medal at the World Championships last August in Helsinki, Finland.

It is not really surprising that Gaisah ? after 7.93m in the third round ? decided to pass the last three attempts. Sdiri, however, added a 8.08m and a 7.96m