Joyce Oladapo

Joyce Oladapo

Personal information
Nationality	British (English)
Born	(1964-02-11) 11 February 1964 (age 61) Lambeth, London, England
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Club	Bromley Ladies
Medal record Athletics Representing   England Commonwealth Games 1986 Edinburgh long jump

Joyce Elena Oladapo (married name Hepher; born 11 February 1964) is an English retired long jumper.

Biography

Oladapo, born in London, ^[1] finished second behind Australian Robyn Lorraway in the long jump event at the 1983 WAAA Championships ^[2] but by virtue of being the highest placed British athlete she became the British long jump champion. ^[3]

In 1984, she jumped the qualifying distance required to compete at the 1984 Summer Olympics, however she achieved this two days after the British athletics team had been submitted to the International Olympic Committee, and was thus unable to be selected: she instead competed in the long jump at the Friendship Games in Prague, which were held as an event for sportspeople from Communist countries who were boycotting that year's Olympics. ^[4]

Oladapo won the WAAA title outright at the 1985 WAAA Championships. ^[5]

Oladapo represented England and won a gold medal in the long jump event, at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Her personal best jump was 6.75 m (22 ft 1+1⁄2 in), achieved in September 1985 in London. ^[9]

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
1981	European Junior Championships	Utrecht, Netherlands	3rd	Long jump [10]
1986	Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, Scotland	1st	Long jump [11]

References

1. Joyce OLADAPO. Sporting Heroes. Retrieved on 2015-06-17.
2. "Athletics" . Sunday Express. 31 July 1983. Retrieved 16 March 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
4. Henson, Mike (18 October 2021). "Friendship Games 1984: When Great Britain took part in the 'Iron Curtain Olympics'". bbc.co.uk . Retrieved 6 November 2021.
5. "AAA Championships (women)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
6. "1986 Athletes". Team England.
7. "England team in 1986". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
8. "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
9. World women's all-time best long jump (updated 2001)
10. European Junior Championships - GBR Athletics
11. 1986 Commonwealth Games, women's athletics results - Sporting Heroes