Ilona Masson jumps 14.52m, three centimetres from the Belgian record

At a meeting in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Ilona Masson produced the jump of her life.
On Sunday she improved her personal best to a wind-legal 14.52m (+1.4 m/s), finishing
just three centimetres short of the Belgian record of 14.55m, set by Svetlana Bolshakova
when she took European bronze in Barcelona in 2010. Bolshakova is today an
ambassador of Beyond the Board, which makes the chase all the more special.
The series told the story of an athlete in top form. Her very first attempt already reached
14.43m, a personal best in its own right; on her second she flew out to 14.52m, the thirdbest mark in Belgian history.
The performance also lifts Ilona to second on the European seasonal list for 2026. Only
Romania's Diana Ana Maria Ion has jumped further this year (14.56m, in Craiova).
Weeks before the European Championships in Birmingham, that is exactly where a
contender wants to be.
From Lucca to Essen to Thonon-les-Bains, the graph keeps climbing. For everyone at
Beyond the Board, and for ambassador Svetlana Bolshakova whose record is now
within touching distance, it is a thrill to watch. On to Birmingham.