Ruswahl Samaai (born 25 September 1991)
Glasgow2014. Retrieved on 2014-08-02. is a South African track and field athlete who competes in the long jump. He was the bronze medallist in the event at the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. In 2017 he won the bronze medal in the long jump event at the World Championships held in London.

Career

Samaai grew up in a poor neighbourhood of Paarl, living in a shack with his mother. He was driven to compete in athletics and would regularly walk nearly ten kilometres to the local running track to train. He attended

Paarl Gimnasium Paarl Gimnasium is a public Afrikaans medium co-educational high school situated in the city of Paarl in the Western Cape province of South Africa. History Rev. van der Lingen founded the school in the centre of town in 1858. The school has pr ...

and went on to study transport management at the University of Johannesburg. Profile: Ruswahl Samaai
Varsity Sports. Retrieved on 2014-08-02. He made his first impact on the national scene as a 19-year-old at the 2011 South African Championships. He placed third, behind

Godfrey Khotso Mokoena Godfrey Khotso Mokoena (born 6 March 1985 in Heidelberg, South Africa) is a South African athlete who specializes in the long jump and triple jump. Early life and family He started his school education at Shalimar Ridge Primary School in Heide ...

and

Luvo Manyonga Luvo Manyonga (born 8 January 1991) is a South African track and field athlete who specialises in the long jump. He won the 2017 World Championship in London and the 2018 Commonwealth Games title in the Gold Coast, Australia. He was the Olymp ...

, and set a personal best of . He improved in 2012 winning the national under-23 championships in a best of before repeating his third place at the senior championships. He was runner-up at the University Championships and also came fourth in the triple jump with a mark of . He repeated as universities runner-up in 2013 and added two further centimetres to his best. Samaai began 2014 with an early world-leading performance of – a new personal best and his first leap over eight metres. He cleared in March, placing second to Irving Saladino in the world rankings. At the South African Championships, he came in second place behind

Zarck Visser Zarck Visser (born 15 September 1989) is a South African athlete specialising in the long jump. He won silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as t ...

with a near-eight-metre jump. Samaai began competing on the international track and field circuit that year. He had his first podium finish on the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

circuit shortly after, placing third at the

Adidas Grand Prix The USA Track & Field, USATF New York Grand Prix is an annual athletics meeting held at Icahn Stadium in New York City, United States. First started in 2005 as the Reebok Grand Prix and then Adidas Grand Prix, it was previously one of the IAAF ...

. After that, he was second at the

Folksam Grand Prix Folksam is one of the largest insurance companies in Sweden. The company headquarters are located in Stockholm. Folksam consists of the two mutual insurance companies Folksam sak and Folksam liv. Folksam is today a Swedish insurance company only, a ...

in Sweden and won at the Meeting Sport Solidarieta in Italy. Samaai was selected to represent South Africa at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and on his international debut, he cleared in the long jump final to earn the bronze medal.Broadbent, Chris (2014-07-30)
James, Adams and Rutherford add Commonwealth gold to Olympic titles
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-08-02.

Personal life

Samaai married long-term girlfriend Alecha Thops on the 3rd of October 2021.

Personal bests

* Long jump – (2017) * Triple jump – (2014)

International competition record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samaai, Rushwahl Living people 1991 births Sportspeople from Paarl Athletes from the Western Cape South African male long jumpers Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics World Athletics Championships athletes for South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for South Africa World Athletics Championships medalists African Championships in Athletics winners IAAF Continental Cup winners South African Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century South African people Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games