Fleur Jong (; born 17 December 1995) is a Dutch Paralympic athlete. She won the gold medal in the women's long jump T64 event at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

held in Tokyo, Japan. She also set a new world record of 6.16 metres. , her current world record in this event is 6.74 metres. Jong is a gold medalist in the women's 100 metres T64 and women's long jump T64 events at the

World Para Athletics Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

and the World Para Athletics European Championships. She won the gold medal in both her events at the

2023 World Para Athletics Championships The 2023 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was the 10th edition of the event and was held in the Charlety Sta ...

held in Paris, France and in both events at the

2021 World Para Athletics European Championships The 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe and a refugee team with one athlete. This was ...

held in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Early life

A few days before her 17th birthday, in December 2012, Jong contracted a bacterial blood infection which hindered blood flow to her extremities. As a result, her right leg had to be amputated below the knee as well as part of her left foot and the top halves of eight fingers. Dutch para-snowboarder

Bibian Mentel Bibian Mentel-Spee (27 September 1972 – 29 March 2021) was a Dutch three-fold Winter Paralympics gold-medalist, and five-times world champion para-snowboarding athlete. Mentel won the Paralympic gold medal in the snowboard cross discipline in ...

coached her during her rehabilitation. The following year, Jong also had her left leg amputated below the knee, at her request, as she was unable to use it properly. In 2013, Jong attended a talent day for Paralympic sports organised by NOC*NSF where she met Guido Bonsen who later became her coach.

Career

Early in her career, Jong competed as a T43-classified athlete. She won the bronze medal in the women's 200 metres T44 event at the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

held in Doha, Qatar. She also finished in 6th place in the women's 100 metres T44 event. Jong represented the Netherlands in two events at the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In both the women's 100 metres T44 and women's 200 metres T44 she did not advance to compete in the final. In 2017, Jong finished in 4th place in the women's 200 metres T44 event at the

held in London, United Kingdom. At the beginning of 2018,

World Para Athletics The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and func ...

implemented classification changes and, as of that year, Jong competes as a T62-classified athlete, a class specifically for athletes with double below the knee amputation. In 2019, Jong finished in 4th place in the women's long jump T64 event at the

held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She also finished in 7th place in the women's 100 metres T64 event. In May 2021, Jong became the first female T62-classified athlete to jump more than six metres in the long jump event. She set a new record of 6.02 metres at the 2021 World Para Athletics Grand Prix event held in Nottwil, Switzerland. In June 2021, she won two gold medals by setting a new world record in both the women's 100 metres T64 and women's long jump T64 events at the World Para Athletics European Championships held in Bydgoszcz, Poland. In the long jump event, Jong set a new world record twice: in her fifth attempt, she jumped 6.04 metres and she improved this to 6.06 metres in her next attempt. A week later, she improved her world record again to 6.09 metres at the annual ''Gouden Spike'' competition held in Leiden, Netherlands. She also won the 50th ''Gouden Spike'' award for her achievement. Jong represented the Netherlands at the

in Tokyo, Japan. She won the gold medal in the women's long jump T64 event with a new world record of 6.16 metres. She finished in 4th place in the women's 100 metres T64 event. In the final, she set a new T62 Paralympic record of 13.10 seconds. Jong was also one of the flag bearers for the Netherlands during the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the 2020 Summer Paralympics. In February 2022, Jong competed at the

Dutch Indoor Athletics Championships The Dutch Indoor Athletics Championships ( nl, Nederlandse kampioenschappen indooratletiek) is an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Royal Dutch Athletics Federation, which serves as the national championship for the sport ...

among able-bodied athletes but without competing for a medal. In March, her portrait was added to a

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

in the Schilderswijk neighbourhood of

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, Netherlands, alongside other Dutch competitors of the Summer or Winter Olympics and Paralympics held in 2021 and 2022. In May, she set a new world record of 6.23 metres in the women's long jump T62/F62 event at the L’Hospitalet International Meeting held in

L'Hospitalet de Llobregat L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (; es, Hospitalet de Llobregat), often shortened to L'Hospitalet or just L'H, is a municipality of Spain, located to the immediate southwest of Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is part of the Bar ...

near Barcelona, Spain. In June 2022, Jong competed among able-bodied athletes at the 2022

FBK Games The FBK Games is an annual track and field event at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion in Hengelo, Netherlands as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1981. Its name honours Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold meda ...

held in Hengelo, Netherlands. A few days later, she set a new T62 world record in the women's 100 metres T44/62/63/64 event at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix held in Paris, France. In July, Jong became the first woman with prosthetic legs to set a time of less than 12.50 seconds (T62 class) in the 100 metres event. She set the record of 12.46 seconds at a competition held in Leverkusen, Germany. In May 2023, at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix event held in Nottwil, Switzerland, Jong set a new world record in the women's 100 metres T62 event with a time of 12.40 seconds. In June 2023, at the Open Nederlands Kampioenschap Para Atletiek held in Vught, Netherlands, she set a new world record in the long jump with a jump of 6.48 metres. A month later, Jong won the gold medal in the women's long jump T64 event at the

held in Paris, France. She also won the gold medal in the women's 100 metres T64 event. In May 2024, she won two gold medals at the

held in Kobe, Japan: she won gold in the women's 100 metres T64 event and in the women's long jump T64 event.

Personal life

Jong studies communication sciences at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. In 2017, she founded Team Para Atletiek together with Paralympic athlete Marlene van Gansewinkel and coach Guido Bonsen which aims to help beginning and experienced para-athletes.

Achievements

Track

Field

References

External links

Fleur Jong
at

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

(archived) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jong, Fleur Living people 1995 births Dutch female long jumpers Dutch female sprinters Dutch amputees Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships Medalists at the World Para Athletics European Championships Paralympic athletes for the Netherlands Long jumpers with limb difference Female competitors in athletics with disabilities Sportspeople from Purmerend Athletes from North Holland Sprinters with limb difference Paralympic sprinters Paralympic long jumpers 21st-century Dutch women