Brooke Buschkuehl has soared in the medal race for the upcoming World Athletics Championships by breaking her own Australian long jump record.
Just three months after returning to competition after recovering from knee surgery, Buschkuehl (nee Stratton) made a big 7.13-meter jump in Chula Vista, California on Saturday (AEST Sunday), improving his previous best set of 7.05 meters in March 2016..
He lifted it to the top of the 2022 world rankings with a big boost of confidence ahead of the world championships that will begin Friday in Oregon and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
“It’s always like the long jump: the jumps that feel effortless are the ones that are farthest away,” Buschkuehl said.
“I had the feeling that I had flown through the air, and where I landed, I had a bit of an indicator of where I could have been, and when I saw that it was above the 7m mark, I went surprise.
“It sounded crazy considering where I came from. The jump seemed amazing to me and it helped me have some fantastic conditions.”
Buschkuehl began experiencing knee pain in late 2020, although he was able to reach last year’s Tokyo Olympics, where he finished seventh.
“I was very happy with that because I didn’t think I would get there with the training I had done before,” said the Victorian, who turns 29 on Tuesday.
“Then after Tokyo, it was an absolute battle. I had surgery in September last year and I was told I was going to run after 10 weeks.
“In January of this year, my knee was probably the worst I’ve ever been in terms of pain and it took me many years to run again. I’ve only been jumping since early April.”
Buschkuehl has an impressive record at the highest level, which includes the top seven finishers at the last two Olympics, the top 10 at the previous two world championships and the silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
“It’s crazy how hard things have been for me,” he said. “I worked hard to stay positive even though I doubted myself for so long.
“We have two weeks for the women’s long jump competition [at the world titles in Eugene] and I couldn’t think of a better place to be. “
Buschkuehl’s winning effort of 7.13 meters was enough to displace Germany’s reigning world and Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo at the top of the 2022 world list.