Jonathan Moore

Background

A former holder of the British Junior long jump record, he is the son of Commonwealth Games triple jump medallist Aston Moore.

Career

Born in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, Jonathan Moore began practising triple jump at the age of thirteen. That year he became the first under 17-year-old to clear 16 metres in the triple jump. He grabbed gold in the triple jump at the World Youth Championships with a jump of 16.36 metres and silver at the 2001 European Junior Championships with 16.43 metres.

He equalled the British Junior long jump record with 7.98 metres in an international match against France and made his first 8.00 m jump in 2002 when he made the British Junior Record at 8.03 m in Loughborough.

This made him the first British Junior to jump over eight metres. He retained his American Automobile Association U20 title but in 2002, during the first event of the season, Moore ruptured his patella.

He made a swift recovery after keyhole surgery and much appreciated support from fellow athlete Jonathan Edwards. He narrowly escaped a drug ban after testing positive for cannabis and was instead handed a public warning after he claimed that the drug had entered his system passively.

He has been warned he faces a two-year suspension if he tests positive for cannabis again.

In January 2009, Moore finished fourth in the long jump with 7.37 m at an athletics meeting in Potchefstroom, South Africa. However, this event was overshadowed in the media by a strange incident in which he was hurt after jumping naked off the roof of a house while participating in warm-weather training. Moore was stunned by the accident and subsequently flew back home to the United Kingdom with his father and a United Kingdom Athletics doctor.

He has not competed since the incident.

Correct as of January 2009

All information taken from IAAF profile.

Achievements

• Competing in the triple jump event in 2001, he won gold at the World Youth Championships and silver in European Junior Championships. His first medal came at the English Schools" event in 1999 and he won gold at the same event in 2000. In 2000 he also won the U17 Championships in both events and the Schools" International and Commonwealth Youth Games in the triple jump. In 2001 Moore won the English Schools" title and American Automobile Association U20 gold in long jump. In just twelve months Moore was competing again and he returned to further competitive success—he picked up a silver medal in 2004 for American Automobile Association Indoor Long Jump—but disappointment was to follow. Moore failed a drugs test at a meeting in Merksem, Belgium, where he had won the long jump with an effort of 7.82 m in 2004. Moore is part of a successful sporting family: he is the son of 1975 European Junior champion and current athletics coach Aston Moore. His cousins include former Arsenal players Justin and Gavin Hoyte, and athlete Chris Clarke – the 2007 400 metres World Youth Champion.