Jazmin Sawyers

Jazmin Sawyers was born on May 21, 1994, in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Her career in athletics began early, focusing on high jump and long jump. In 2007, she was the high jump runner-up at the English Schools Championships, behind Katarina Johnson-Thompson. The following year, Sawyers won the English Schools’ titles in long jump and pentathlon, a feat she repeated in 2009. Her international debut came in 2011 at the World Youth Championships, where she placed ninth in the heptathlon. That same year, she secured gold in the long jump and the 4 x 100 meters relay at the Commonwealth Youth Games. Sawyers also demonstrated versatility by competing in bobsleigh, earning a silver medal at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics in Innsbruck as part of a two-man bob team, making her and Mica McNeill the first British medal-winning team at the event.

Sawyers transitioned her focus to the long jump in 2012, leveraging explosive strength training from bobsleigh. She achieved a personal best and world-leading junior mark of 6.64m to finish third at the British Championships and subsequently earned a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships. Her career progressed with a silver medal in long jump at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, her first senior international medal, with a jump of 6.54m. She continued to accumulate accolades, including a silver at the 2015 European U23 Championships and another silver at the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam. Sawyers has represented Great Britain at two Olympic Games, finishing eighth in long jump at both the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In 2023, she captained Great Britain at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, winning gold with a national indoor record of 7.00m, marking her first major senior title. She has also achieved five national long jump titles.

Beyond her athletic career, Sawyers is a musician and participated in the sixth series of The Voice UK in 2017, where she was coached by Will.i.am. She has also notably served as an Ambassador for Right To Play, a global organization focused on sport for development. In 2024, she sustained a significant injury, rupturing her Achilles, which unfortunately led to her missing the Paris 2024 Olympics. Despite the setback, she served as a BBC commentator for the Athletics events at the Games, showcasing her continued involvement and expertise in sports broadcasting.