Jai Desmond Taurima (born 26 June 1972 in

Southport, Queensland Southport is a coastal town and the most populous suburb in the City of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. It contains the Gold Coast central business district. In the , Southport had a population of 36,786 people. Geography Southport is ...

) is an Australian retired athlete who competed in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. Despite smoking a packet of cigarettes a day, he won a surprising silver medal at the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

with a personal best jump of 8.49 metres. This was the Oceanic record at the time. He is the son of Elaine (†) and Floyd Taurima, and a sibling of Corrie and Australian track and field coach Stacey Taurima. His partner is Jennifer Smith. He is also known as Jumping Jai or Jumping Jai Taurima. In addition, Taurima won a silver medal at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

. Since retiring from athletics, Taurima has joined the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

. Of New Zealand Māori descent, Taurima affiliates to the

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

. In 2014, his daughter, Indie Rose, died from leukemia at the age of two years old.

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* 1972 births Living people Australian male long jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Australian people of Māori descent New Zealand Māori sportspeople Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes Sportspeople from the Gold Coast, Queensland Athletes from the Gold Coast, Queensland Athletes from Queensland Ngāti Kahungunu people Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Sportsmen from Queensland Australian Athletics Championships winners Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics {{Australia-athletics-bio-stub