Mutale Mulenga

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Mutale Mulenga
Personal information
NationalityZambian
Born (1967-09-29) 29 September 1967 (age 57)
Sport
SportAthletics
EventHigh jump

Mutale Mulenga (born 29 September 1967) is a Zambian high jumper who lived in England. In 1983, he set the world record for highest jump by a 16-year-old athlete. He competed in the men's high jump at the 1984 Summer Olympics. [1]

Contents

Career

In 1982, Mulenga jumped 1.90 m representing Dorset to set the championship record high jump performance at the English Schools' Athletics Championships. [2]

The following year, Mulenga jumped 2.03 m to set the single-age world record for highest jump by a 16-year-old athlete. The mark was an 11 cm improvement on his personal best. He attempted but did not clear 2.05 m, which would have set the world record for any under-18 athlete. [3]

In June 1984, Mulenga jumped 1.96 metres at the Southwest Counties Schools' Athletics Championships in England. He claimed a poor takeoff prevented him from jumping near his personal best, but nonetheless set the championship record. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Mulenga was scheduled to compete in the high jump at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, but he did not start the event. [8] [9] He was also selected to represent Dorset at the 1986 English Schools' Athletics Championships. [10]

At the 1984 Olympics, Mulenga was seeded in the 'B' high jump qualification group. [11] He was observed to be the only Olympian not using the Fosbury Flop, instead resorting to the straddle technique that was seen as outdated. This reportedly made the crowd cheer him as an underdog. After missing his first attempt, he cleared 2.05 m using the straddle method, though he missed all his attempts at 2.10 m and did not qualify for the finals. [12] [13]

At the 1986 track and field championships of Dorset, Malenga won the junior high jump with a 1.80 m mark but also won the junior 110 metres hurdles in a championship record time of 15.8 seconds. [14]

Personal life

Mulenga attended Bryanston School in Bryanston, Dorset, England. [2] [4] He was 1.78 metres (5 ft 10 in) tall and could jump 23 centimetres (9.1 in) above his height in 1983. [3]

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Mutale Mulenga Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Super start as proud Warwicks live with giants". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 10 July 1982. p. 15. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Bryanston's record leap". Daily Echo. 29 June 1983. p. 41. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  4. 1 2 "SOUTH-WEST SCHOOLS ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS DORSET THIRD". Dorset Echo. 18 June 1984. p. 12. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  5. ↑ "Devon's cream". Western Daily Press. 19 June 1984. p. 4. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  6. ↑ "RECORD". Daily Echo. 19 June 1984. p. 25. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  7. ↑ "Mutale Mulenga (16), from Bryanston School, Blandford, clears a championship best 1.96 metres..." Dorset Echo. 19 June 1984. p. 13. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  8. ↑ "Dorset team announced". Daily Echo. 10 July 1986. p. 45. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  9. ↑ "Commonwealth Games Federation - Past Commonwealth Games". thecgf.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Jumping for Zambia". Dorset Echo. 12 July 1986. p. 14. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  11. ↑ Mutale Mulenga at Olympedia OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  12. ↑ "Okay, so the Olympics were great". The La Costan. 16 August 1984. p. 7. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  13. ↑ Mutale Mulenga at World Athletics OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  14. ↑ "Bryanston's Malenga sets hurdles record". Daily Echo. 20 May 1986. p. 33. Retrieved 6 May 2025.


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