Izmir Smajlaj (born 29 March 1993) is an Albanian athlete who specialises in the long jump. He won the gold medal at the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, the first gold medal for his country at a major athletics competition, setting a new national and personal record of 8.08 metres in 2017.
His personal bests in the long jump are:
8.16 metres outdoors (, 2021) in Tirana. (new national record) 8.11 metres outdoors (–0.7 m/s wind, 2019) in Shkodër. (new national record) 8.08 metres indoors (2017) First place in long jump competition, gold medal at the European Athletics Indoor Championships, Belgrade, Serbia 7.93 metres indoors (2018) First place in long jump competition, gold medal at the Balkan Indoor Championships, Istanbul, Turkey 7.89 metres outdoors (2018) First place in long jump competition, gold medal and best olympic athlete of the match at the Albanian Athletics Outdoor Championships, Elbasan, Albania 7.89 metres outdoors (2018) 7.83 metres outdoors ( 2024 ) In addition, in the triple jump, he has a personal best of 16.30 metres outdoors (-0.2 m/s wind; 2016; Elbasan, Albania) and 15.15 metres indoors (2014; Tirana, Albania). All the first three marks are current national records.
In 2023, the president and general secretary of the Albanian Athletics Federation were banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit for manipulating one of Smajlaj's 2021 results that earned him a universality placement at the Tokyo Olympics. Smajlaj was cleared of wrongdoing.
International competitions YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotesRepresenting 2012World Junior ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain –Long jumpNM2013World ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia24th (q)Long jump7.55 m2014European ChampionshipsZürich, Switzerland22nd (q)Long jump7.56 m2016Championships of the Small States of EuropeMarsa, Malta2ndLong jump7.57 mEuropean ChampionshipsAmsterdam, Netherlands9thLong jump7.75 mOlympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil21st (q)Long jump7.72 m2017European Indoor ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia1stLong jump8.08 m2018Balkan Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey1stLong jump7.80 mMediterranean GamesTarragona, Spain4thLong jump7.85 mEuropean ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany10thLong jump7.83 mChampionships of the Small States of EuropeSchaan, Liechtenstein1stLong jump7.90 m2019Balkan Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey2ndLong jump7.70 m2020Balkan Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey1stLong jump7.91 m2021Balkan Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey1stLong jump7.91 mChampionships of the Small states of EuropeSerravalle, San Marino1stLong jump7.90 mOlympic GamesTokyo, Japan17th (q)Long jump7.86 m2022Balkan Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey1stLong jump7.79 m2024European ChampionshipsRome, Italy21st (q)Long jump7.78 mChampionships of the Small States of EuropeGibraltar1stLong jump7.83 m
References