Jai Desmond Taurima (born 26 June 1972 in

Southport, Queensland Southport is a coastal Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. In the , Southport had a population of 31,908 people. It contains the Gold Coast central business district. Geography Sout ...

) is an Australian retired athlete who competed in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. Despite smoking a packet of cigarettes a day, he won a surprising silver medal at the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

with a personal best jump of 8.49 metres. This was the Oceanic record. Son of Elaine (deceased) and Floyd Taurima, siblings Corrie, and Australian track and field coach Stacey Taurima. His partner is Jennifer Smith. He is also known as 'Jumping Jai' or 'Jumping Jai Taurima'. In addition, Taurima won a silver medal at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

. Since retiring from athletics, Taurima has joined the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

. Of New Zealand Māori descent, Taurima affiliates to the

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative di ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

. In 2014, his daughter, Indie Rose, died from leukemia at the age of two years old.

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1972 births Living people Australian male long jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Australia Australian people of Māori descent New Zealand Māori sportspeople Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes Sportspeople from the Gold Coast, Queensland Ngāti Kahungunu people Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia {{Australia-athletics-bio-stub