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James Beckford
	; James Beckford (2012)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing Jamaica
Olympic Games
World Championships
World Indoor Championships

James Beckford (born 9 January 1975 in Saint Mary, Jamaica) is a Jamaican track and field athlete competing in the long jump. He represented Jamaica at the Olympic level in 1996, 2000 and 2004. He was the silver medallist in the long jump at the 1996 Olympics and also has two silvers from the World Championships in Athletics (from 1995 and 2003). He was chosen as the Jamaica Sportsman of the Year for 1995, 1996 and 2003. He is the current holder of the Jamaican record for the triple jump with a mark of 17.92 m, and was also the holder of the long jump record at 8.62m until 28 September. 2019 when it was replaced with a mark of 8.69 m by Tajay Gayle at the World Championships in Athletics in Doha, Qatar.^[1]

Beckford was educated in the United States and began his athletics career there, specialising in the horizontal jumps. He took the triple jump title at Florida's Class AAAA championship, representing William R. Boone High School. He moved to Texas to study at Blinn College. While there he improved Delroy Poyser's Jamaican record with a jump of 17.29 metres (56 ft 8¾ in) – a mark which was also the world-leading outdoor jump at that point in April 1994.^[2]

His personal best of 8.62 m (28 ft 3+1⁄4 in) is currently ranked 15th on the all-time list. Since he made that jump, 5 April 1997 in Orlando, Florida, only 6 men have jumped farther.

He was banned from competition for three months in 1997 after he failed a drug test for ephedrine, a banned stimulant.^[3]

He has competed at the World Championships on five occasions and the IAAF World Indoor Championships on six occasions. Aside from his global performances, he has won medals at the Summer Universiade, the Goodwill Games, the IAAF Grand Prix Final, as well as a silver medal from the 1998 CAC Games.

He remains active, winning the 2018 World Masters Championships.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	2nd	Long jump
	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	6th	Triple jump
	Grand Prix Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	3rd	Long jump
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, Georgia, United States	2nd	Long jump
1997	World Indoor Championships	Paris, France	5th	Long jump
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	4th	Long jump
	Universiade	Catania, Italy	2nd	Long jump
	Grand Prix Final	Fukuoka, Japan	2nd	Long jump
1998	Goodwill Games	New York City, United States	3rd	Long jump
1998	CAC Games	Maracaibo, Venezuela	2nd	Long jump
1999	World Indoor Championships	Maebashi, Japan	5th	Long jump
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	14th (qualifiers)	Long jump
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	7th	Long jump
	Goodwill Games	Brisbane, Australia	1st	Long jump
	Grand Prix Final	Melbourne, Australia	4th	Long jump
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, England	6th (qualifiers)	Long jump
	World Championships	Paris, France	2nd	Long jump
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	7th	Long jump
2004	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	2nd	Long jump
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	4th	Long jump
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	5th	Long jump
2005	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	9th	Long jump
2005	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	3rd	Long jump
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	6th (qualifiers)	Long jump
2006	World Athletics Final	Stuttgart, Germany	7th	Long jump
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	6th	Long jump
2008	World Indoor Championships	Valencia, Spain	6th	Long jump

References

^ "Beckford triple jump national record turns 25". jamaica-star.com. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
^ Buchalter, Bill (5 April 1994). Beckford Jumps To World Lead. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved on 2010-09-02.
^ Longman, Jere (1 August 1997). "I.A.A.F. Reduces Doping Bans". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 May 2010.