Ella Rush continues to rewrite Gibraltar national record books with Commonwealth Games long jump performance

Sitting eleventh in the heptathlon rankings after the first of four events, Ella Rush resumed her efforts to continue climbing the standings with the long jump.
The Gibraltar athlete was scheduled to start as the twelfth participant from the 15 competitors taking part.
Once again, her personal best of 6.34m and season's best of 6.32m were not officially posted as Gibraltar national records by the GAAA in their publicly available listings. This was despite the fact that the performances had been achieved after her registration as a Gibraltar athlete received official endorsement from World Athletics this spring.
While the controversy surrounding the acceptance of Ella's achievements as national records had remained in the background as she travelled to Glasgow, the athlete was already cementing her name in the record books, producing performances that surpassed the previous records and provided further reasons for her inclusion in the listings.
The Gibraltar long jump national record was listed as 4.53m, achieved by Alison Cano in 1992.
With Ella expected to once again approach her personal best in an attempt to claw back points and rise through the rankings, this was another record awaiting to be broken as a recognised Gibraltar athlete.
Notably, only five of the athletes competing against her in the heptathlon had season's bests equal to or better than hers, although eleven of those competing had previously jumped beyond the 6m mark and were approaching her distances.
From the start of the event, Ella knew she would need to produce her best form to be among the leading distances. Mia Scerri of Australia opened with a 6.29m jump, while Katherine O'Connor produced a 6.23m effort in her first attempt. England's Ellen Barber also recorded a personal best in her opening jump with 6.20m.
Ella's first attempt immediately moved her into seventh place in the long jump standings with a 6.01m effort, breaking the published Gibraltar national record in her first jump at the Commonwealth Games. The jump momentarily lifted Ella into tenth place in the overall heptathlon rankings, although she dropped back to eleventh once all athletes had completed their opening attempts.
Her opening jump ranked as the ninth-best distance once all first-round attempts had been completed.
Ella's first effort bettered those of England's Niamh Emerson, New Zealand's Briana Stephenson and Australia's Tori West, all of whom had been ranked above her in the combined standings.
Her second attempt saw her improve significantly, reaching 6.27m and momentarily moving into second place in the long jump standings behind Australia's Scerri. The jump was just four centimetres short of her season's best, leaving her with one further attempt.
With only New Zealand's Wilson yet to complete her second jump, Ella held second place and remained in contention to significantly improve her points tally if she could maintain her position after three rounds.
As the stands began to fill and the stadium commentary highlighted her performance positively, it provided a boost for the Gibraltar athlete as she looked to climb the overall heptathlon rankings. However, even with a strong finish, she still needed other competitors to lose points.
Australia's Scerri failed to improve on her 6.29m in her third attempt, while O'Connor moved ahead with a 6.37m jump. Rush therefore had an opportunity to improve further if she could approach her season's best with her final attempt.
Tori West had already dropped points after recording a 6.13m third attempt.
Ella's final jump measured 6.01m, matching her opening attempt and falling just short of her season's best.
However, her second attempt had already secured a top-end finish in the long jump standings. The Gibraltar athlete finished third in the event, with her 6.27m effort surpassing the published Gibraltar long jump national record by almost two metres.
With this becoming her highest-ranked event of the competition so far, Ella consolidated her position in eleventh place in the overall heptathlon standings.

Long Jump Result
Position Athlete Country Wind Distance Points
1 K. O'CONNOR NIR +1.7 6.37m 965
2 M. SCERRI AUS +1.7 6.29m 940
3 E. RUSH GIB +0.8 6.27m 934
4 J. O'DOWDA ENG +1.4 6.26m 930
5 A. McCAULEY NIR +1.2 6.23m 921
6 M. WILSON NZL +1.4 6.23m 921
7 E. BARBER ENG +1.2 6.20m 912
8 S. MACDONALD CAN +0.8 6.15m 896
9 T. WEST AUS +0.8 6.13m 890
10 B. STEPHENSON NZL +1.6 6.04m 862
11 N. EMERSON ENG +2.2 5.96m 837
12 A. MAFOGANG TENKEU CMR +0.8 5.88m 813
13 L. WOODWARD JEY +1.6 5.82m 795
14 H. BLAIR CAN +0.7 5.63m 738
15 A. ROUTLEDGE SCO +1.7 5.46m 688

Combined Heptathlon Rankings After Long Jump
Position Athlete Country Points
1 K. O'CONNOR NIR 4696
2 J. O'DOWDA ENG 4612
3 M. SCERRI AUS 4500
4 A. McCAULEY NIR 4432
5 T. WEST AUS 4407
6 E. BARBER ENG 4398
7 N. EMERSON ENG 4391
8 M. WILSON NZL 4386
9 B. STEPHENSON NZL 4351
10 S. MACDONALD CAN 4325
11 E. RUSH GIB 4206
12 L. WOODWARD JEY 4030
13 H. BLAIR CAN 4009
14 A. MAFOGANG TENKEU CMR 3856
15 A. ROUTLEDGE SCO 3790