Ms Naa Anang

Athlete

Naa Anang (class of 2012) started in the sport of long jump following her older brothers when they joined Little Athletics. In 2008, at just 13, she started to emerge on the national stage in 2008 when she won the national schools long jump with a leap of 5.53m.

Just over two years later (2011) she cleared her first six metre jump, winning the Australian U17 long jump to secure national team selection. She competed at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, where she placed second in the long jump.

Out of the sport in 2012 and 2013, in her first jump upon return, the 18-year-old surprised with a PB of 6.24m in January 2014. Two weeks later, in her second competition, she extended her PB to 6.27m. She was selected for the IAAF World Junior Championships in 2014 but she didn't proceed past the qualifying round.

Selected for the 2015 World University Games, she indicated she was in career-best shape with a PB of 6.36m before departure. Coasting through the qualifying round with 6.29m, she was unstoppable in the final with a stunning series of six jumps, with all but one equal or better than her PB. She opened with a PB of 6.39m and then launched out to 6.55m to claim the bronze medal.

In 2017, Naa had a tremendous domestic season, extending her PB to 6.65m and winning the national title. In July in France, she raised her best to 6.68m to become the eighth best in Australian history. The performance earned her an IAAF roll down invitation to the 2017 World Championships, where she leapt 6.27m in the qualifying rounds.

She was in good form domestically from January 2018, leaping 6.54m in Perth. She peaked perfectly for the Australian Championships and CG trials, requiring just one leap of 6.50m in the qualifying round, ahead of 6.66m in the final. The defending champion, lost by 2 cm on countback to Australian record holder, Brooke Stratton. Naa's second place secured automatic selection for the Games.