Jessie Maduka was still a sprinter in her youth, the switch to triple jump brought her into the German athletics elite. A complicated foot fracture changed everything. At the national title fights in Dortmund (live stream here from Saturday) this weekend, as the defending champion, she is still the hunted.
Hop, step, jump – everything went like clockwork for Jessie Maduka. In the spring of 2018 – after a four-year stay in the USA – the triple jumper was on her way to the national top – at least. With 13.81 meters, she was runner-up at the German indoor championships – the next step should follow in the summer, the first jump over the 14-meter mark. And then more…
Nothing came of it. In the summer of 2018 she actually jumped 13.95 meters close to her intermediate goal, but then it happened: she broke her foot. Multiple times. Complicated. No athlete can use such an injury, certainly not a triple jumper – the foot is exposed to the greatest stress in this discipline.
“I didn’t dare anymore”
“Not only did the healing process take a long time, I also later didn’t dare to jump on my foot properly. During competitions, I used to have recurring pain.”, said the native of Düsseldorf to the portal “leichtathletik.de”. Instead of going beyond 14 meters, the level of performance went down. In 2019 only 13.32 meters, in 2020 13.57 meters and in 2021 at least 13.85 meters again. However, that was no longer enough for membership in the federal squad.
Hop, Step, Jump – triple jumper Jessie Maduka
In patient and careful cooperation with the former top triple jumper Ralf Jaros, Jessie Maduka managed to adapt the demanding movement sequence to the injured foot in the construction of the 2022 winter season. “I put my foot down a little differently so that it isn’t as stressed. This means I no longer have pain and the blockage is released. Before jumping, my head is no longer in panic mode, in which it expects pain.”so the jumper of TV Wattenscheid at “leichtathletik.de”.
2022 – with 14 meters to the indoor title
What also helped the 1.84 meter tall athlete enormously was her basic speed – she hadn’t lost it despite her serious injury. And so she jumped all the way to the front at the indoor championships in Leipzig in 2022: 14.00 meters – achieved without the jumping foot touching the board. Unofficially, you could add another 20 centimeters to her jump, which brought the title. “It’s annoying that I gave away 20 centimeters on the board, but it’s just a minor matter. After I drew attention to myself in 2018, which then leveled off, I was able to show that I’ve got what it takes,” cheered the psychology student.
National coach Charles Friedek also stated with satisfaction: “Jessie is tall, very fast and also a great jumper. Physically, she has the ideal prerequisites for a triple jumper. Originally from the sprint, she now dares to transport more and more speed into the jump. In the long term, I would rate Jessie well over 14.50 trust meters.”
Radical change: changing the ankle bone
But everything turned out differently again. The foot reacted, Jessie Maduka had no choice but to make a radical change: she changed the ankle leg – from right to left. It should speak for her that, despite the ongoing problems, she did not say goodbye to competitive sports, but simply stuck with it. Even if she – at least in the triple jump – had to start almost from the beginning again.
The fact that she doesn’t just look for success and best performances in her sport was also good for her in making this decision. She combines more with athletics and training: “It’s just a nice job where I get together with friends and companions who have been with me for years and do something that’s good for me.”
In Dortmund now the hunted
In Dortmund at the indoor championships she is still the hunted. Younger athletes move up. Two athletes who have already worked their way up to the national top as U23 athletes are arriving with the best previous performances in their luggage. The 21-year-old Caroline Joyeux (LG Nord Berlin) recently increased to 13.77 meters under the roof of the hall. The 22-year-old Kira Wittmann (LG Göttingen) convinced with constant competitions and a new indoor best of 13.69 meters. Outdoors she had already indicated her 14 meter potential with 13.90 meters. Both have never won a national title in the women’s class and challenge a trio that have already done so.
After changing her jumping leg, Maduka is back at 13.58 meters. And the German outdoor champion of 2020, Maria Purtsa (LAC Erdgas Chemnitz), wants to prove that she has more than the 13.55 meters she has shown so far this winter.