Stephen jumps long (twice) and U20 duo selected for GB at Mannheim

Friday 29th May 2026

Long jumper Stephen Mackenzie in action at the EAP Indoor International in 2025 (photo by Bobby Gavin)

Stephen Mackenzie came up with two brilliant long jumps in the same competition in Slovakia.

The Scot took victory in the JBL Jumps Fest in Kosice with a fine performance.

Stephen’s winning leap was 8.01m but – with real bad luck – the wind reading was +2.1 to make it a windy jump. Darren Ritchie has held the Scottish Record at 8.01m for fully 22 years!

There was a legal wind reading for a second leap of 7.97m and that’s well over the 7.89m asked for by Team Scotland as Glasgow 2026 qualifying standard.

Great to note this really encouraging start to the season for Stephen and hopefully there are exciting weeks ahead.

Murray Fotheringham jumped 7.44m at the same competition but unfortunately sustained an injury.

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Sophie Thomas and Luc Macleod (photos by Bobby Gavin)

Two young Scots have been selected to represent GB and NI at U20 level.

British Athletics are taking a team to Germany for the Mannheim International Gala to represent Novuna GB and NI.

Luc Macleod and Sophie Thomas are named in relay squads for the event, which takes place over June13-14.

Congratulations to Luc and Sophie and to their families, coaches and clubs on selection – which follows on from good performances for GB U20 team at Loughborough.

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Tags: Luc Macleod, Mannheim, Sophie Thomas, Stephen Mackenzie