Gold went to Australia’s Delta Amidzovski with 6.58m, with Ndudi’s mark just 16cm shy of the bronze medal, and she was well aware that the Irish senior record of 6.68m she jumped in April this year would have been enough to win.
But Ndudi had come to Peru at the end of a long, exhausting season, her first in the NCAA, having enrolled at the University of Illinois last year. For much of the summer, she’d been unable to jump given a lingering issue in her back, and a session 10 days before this championships had left her unable to walk for the day.
“But I’ve been doing rehab and trying to get better for this moment,” she said. “So right now, yes I’m in pain, but I pushed through it because it’s the last meet of the year and I wanted to give it my all.”
Ndudi came to Peru as the European U20 champion and was keen to win Ireland its first long jump medal at a major global championship for over a century. But after only barely qualifying for the final, she knew it would take a huge turnaround to do so.
“Obviously it’s disappointing because a medal is always what someone wants, but it was a lot better than yesterday,” she said.
“I didn’t finish where I wanted to finish, but I can’t forget I had a great season before this. A national record at my age is huge so I’m very excited to see what comes next. I’m very excited for next year.
“It’s my first year in the US, I’m very new to the training and I think next year will be a lot better and we have Euro U23s so I’m very excited for that.”
Elsewhere, Seán Doggett finished seventh in the 400m semi-final, the 17-year-old from Galway running on fumes in his third race in two days following the mixed relay and 400m heat. He clocked 50.33, well down on the 47.31 he’d run in the morning.
Fintan Dewhirst booked his place in tomorrow night’s semi-finals of the 400m hurdles, the Donegal athlete clocking 52.39 to finish second in his heat. “It wasn’t very quick but it’ll do the job,” he said. “It’s what I came to do so far.”
David Davitt competed in an earlier heat and finished fourth in 52.51, which wasn’t enough to advance. Lughaidh Mallon came home ninth in his heat of the 1500m, clocking 3:48.69.
The focus today for the Irish will be on the men’s javelin final at 11.30pm Irish time, where Oisin Joyce looks set to challenge for a top-five finish. It can be watched live on Eurovisionsport.com.