Gerson Varela Baldé (born 28 January 2000) is a Portuguese long jumper and high jumper and is a multiple-time national champion in both disciplines. He is the reigning World Indoor Champion in the long jump, having won the title with a personal best 8.46 metres at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships.[1]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality |  Portugal | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 28 January 2000 | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Long jump, High jump | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | Long jump: 8.46 m (Toruń, 2026) High jump: 2.23 m (Lisbon, 2020) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
editFrom Albufeira, Algarve, he is a member of Sporting CP athletics club, in Lisbon.[2][3] Baldé finished 19th competing in the high jump at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich.[4][5] He jumped 8.14 metres to narrowly miss the long jump final at the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul.[6]
Baldé set a long jump personal best of 8.14 metres in 2024, and went on to compete at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome.[5] He qualified with the fifth furthest distance in Rome, recording 8.10 metres, however in the final he did not make a clean jump and therefore did not register a distance.[7]
In January 2025, he won the long jump with 8.11 metres at the Mário Moniz Pereira Meeting, allowing him to automatically qualify for the upcoming European Indoors.[8] He qualified for the final of the long jump at the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships with an opening jump in qualifying of 8.11 metres, which was also the longest jump in qualification.[9][10] In the final he recorded a jump of 8.07 metres with his second effort, which was enough to secure him fourth place overall.[11] Subsequently, he was selected to compete at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships that same month in Nanjing, China.[12] He placed eighth overall in Nanjing, with a best mark of 8.03 metres.[13] In September 2025, he competed at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, without advancing to the final.[14]
On 8 February 2026, Balde set a meeting record at the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting Dortmund, jumping 8.06 metres.[15] On 22 March, Baldé was outside the medals in fifth position prior to his final jump at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships, only to leap a personal best 8.46 metres to overtake Mattia Furlani, Bozhidar Sarâboyukov and Jorge A. Hodelín into the gold medal position to win his first global title in Toruń, Poland.[16][17] On 4 June, he placed fifth at the 2026 Golden Gala in Rome, part of the 2026 Diamond League.[18]
References
edit- ↑ "Gerson Baldé". World Athletics. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ↑ "Isaac Nader and Gerson Baldé take to the European Indoor Championships today". Sulimformacao.pt. 6 March 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ↑ "Gerson Baldé from Algarve wins long jump at the Meeting de Nantes". Sulimformacao.pt. 27 Jan 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ↑ "Portugal in Munich with their largest ever delegation at the European Championships". Record.pt. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- 1 2 "Gerson Baldé: I went in for the kill, but the difficulty is getting the length right with the boar". Record.pt. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ↑ "European Athletics Championships: Gerson Baldé on the verge of reaching the long jump final". Desporto. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ↑ "Men Long Jump Results - European Athletics Championships 2024". Watch Athletics. 8 June 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
- ↑ "GERSON BALDÉ STANDS OUT IN JAMOR". Fpatletismo.pt. 11 January 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ↑ "Algarveans Isaac Nader and Gerson Baldé compete today in the finals of the Apeldoorn European Championships". Sulimformacao.pt. 7 March 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ↑ "European Athletics Championships: Gerson Baldé jumps straight into the final". Ojogo.pt. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ↑ "Gerson Baldé fourth in the long jump at the European Athletics Championships". Ojogo.pt (in Portuguese). 7 March 2025. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
- ↑ "Indoor World Championships on the agenda for Algarve athletes Isaac Nader and Gerson Baldé". Sulinformacao.pt. 19 March 2025. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
- ↑ "World Athletics Indoor Championships". World Athletics. 21 March 2025. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
- ↑ "World Athletics Championships, Tokyo 2025". World Athletics. 18 Sep 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ↑ Trapnell, Jasmine (8 Feb 2026). "Swoboda battles to 60m victory and Moe Berg dominates again in Dortmund". European Athletics. Retrieved 9 Feb 2026.
- ↑ "Baldé surprises to complete Portuguese long jump double in Kujawy Pomorze". World Athletics. 22 March 2026. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
- ↑ Broadbent, Chris (23 March 2026). "Portugal's Baldé shocks European rivals to win world indoor long jump gold". European Athletics. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
- ↑ "Results - Rome Diamond League 2026". Watch Athletics. 4 June 2026. Retrieved 5 June 2026.