Dutch Paralympian Fleur Jong smashes second record for long jump over 22 feet
Accomplished Paralympic athlete and Guinness World Records title holder Fleur Jong (Netherlands) earned her second record this June for the farthest long jump (T62, female) in history – after launching herself 6.86 m (22 ft 6 in) at the 2025 International Golden Roof Challenge.
The graceful jumper claimed the record at an urban athletics event staged in the heart of Innsbruck, Austria, on “The FlySwat” – a mobile athletics facility that complies with World Athletics’ record-eligibility regulations. She competed in the T62 class, which is open to those with a double below-the-knee amputation who use prosthetics to compete.
Fleur – who is a two-time Paralympic long jump gold medal winner – broke her 2024 Paralympic record of 6.53 m (21 ft 4 in) with the jump, and continues to inspire viewers with her determination and drive as she soars to new heights.
“This year was incredible,” she said on social media. “I ran faster than ever. Jumped further than ever. New benchmarks are closer than ever. So I will dream bigger than ever.”
Currently 30 years old, the track and field star’s life changed a few days before her 17th birthday, after a bacterium sent her body into toxic shock.
“I came home from school with what I thought was the flu,” she said, “Less than 24 hours later, I was rushed to the hospital, and the doctors did everything they could to keep me alive.”
Because of her illness, half of Fleur’s eight fingers, her right foot, and the forefoot and heel of her left foot had to be amputated – but after she struggled to rehabilitate with a missing left limb, she decided with her family and prosthetist to commence a double below-knee amputation.
Nearly 15 years later, she’s turned her setbacks into successes and become a para-athletics legend.
“After I lost my legs, I was trying to find a new sport with which I could improve my health and make the best of my new situation,” she said to Össur, a company that develops prosthetics.
“Athletics provided me with lots of general skills and challenged me every day. I started falling in love with it quickly."
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Now, the Paralympian has two Guinness World Records titles, including one for the fastest run 100 metres (T62, female) – which she claimed in 2021 with a performance of 12.64 seconds. She has since broken that record with a time of 12.02.
“I almost can’t believe it,” she said after reclaiming the title, “This one felt so strong.”
And she’s determined to use her accomplishments as momentum for visibility in the para-athletics community, co-founding the organization Team Para Atletiek to improve facilities for para-athletes and help new athletes get involved in sports.
“Athletics, the sport of running, throwing and jumping, offers something for everyone, no matter what’s your disability,” she said at the European Para Championships. “Athletics can make you fit and skillful. Even if, I am convinced, you have never really moved.
“For adults, the threshold is often a bit higher. Children are more open-minded, adults tend to have reservations. And yet I believe that everyone can have dreams and goals, even at a later age.
“Sport also gives you the chance to deal better with your disability, to learn to accept it. You get to show yourself as you are. You are unique, you can also explain that as something positive.”
So congratulations again on your successes, Fleur – we look forward to seeing you continue to race for new records!
Header image: BJ Warnick/Newscom/Alamy