Team GB athlete reveals he is back to his full time job on Friday – just days after finishing fifth at the Olympics

A Team GB athlete will return to his full-time job away from athletics just days after placing fifth in the finals of the long jump event at the Paris Olympics. 

Jacob Fincham-Dukes put in an impressive performance during the weekend’s qualifiers to book his place in the final at Stade de France on Tuesday evening. 

The 27-year-old then stepped up to jump a mammoth 8.14 metres, a distance just six centimetres of his personal best, and was awarded fifth place, with Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou becoming the first athlete to win back-to-back long jump events in the 21st century. 

But despite fulfilling his potential in Paris, Fincham-Dukes admitted that there had been other things on his mind during his spell in the French capital. 

‘I really hope I’ve done myself justice, because I work full-time, I’m back at work on Friday,’ Fincham-Dukes told the BBC. 

Jacob Fincham-Dukes shared that he was already thinking about his return to work moments after the final 

The 27-year-old jumped 8.14m in the long jump final to finish an impressive fifth in the event

Away from the track, Fincham-Dukes is a Senior Associate at ISN and based in Arlington, Texas

‘So I’m carrying a lot of extra stress that these guys don’t have to deal with. 

‘I’ve carried myself tremendously well this year. Fourth at Europeans, fifth at the Olympics. 

‘I wasn’t supposed to finish fifth on ranking there, so I think I’ve done myself proud.’

Away from the track, Fincham-Dukes – who is based in Texas – works in health and safety compliance at ISN, and in an interview with his employers, the Harrogate-born athlete gave fans a revealing look at the rigours of his training schedule balancing work with competition. 

‘I train 7-8 times a week,’ Fincham-Dukes shared. 

‘My day starts at 5am with a gym session, followed by work, and then another workout. My weekly routine includes weight training before work and practice sessions afterward, with a recovery stretching session on Wednesdays. 

‘The day before a competition, I do a quick warm-up to mentally and physically prepare, visualising my performance and setting goals.’

The Harrogate-born athlete was just six centimetres off his personal best at Stade de France

Ahead of the Games, Fincham-Dukes said that his main goal was reaching Tuesday’s final

Prior to the Games, Fincham-Dukes added that his ‘main goal’ was to make the final, and revealed that representing Team GB was ‘immensely important’. 

‘Representing my country on such a global stage is a rare and special opportunity,’ Fincham-Dukes added. ‘The pinnacle of the sport.’

Team GB enjoyed a mixed Tuesday night in athletics events, with Josh Kerr narrowly missing out on claiming gold in the men’s 1,500m final to under-the-radar winner Cole Hocker of the USA. 

Both Daryll Neita and Dina Asher-Smith failed to medal in the 200m final an hour later, with the British pair coming agonisingly close to third place, but finishing empty handed in the face of a dominant showing from gold medallist Gabrielle Thomas, second-placed Julien Alfred, and Thomas’ US compatriot Brittany Brown, who claimed bronze.