Desleigh Owusu

BIOGRAPHY

For all but one of her 10 years in athletics Desleigh Owusu has set a triple jump PB. The gradual progress over a decade now sees the 23-year-old set to make history as the first Australian women to compete in the triple jump at an outdoor global championship (worlds or Olympics), when she lines up in Tokyo at the 2025 World Championships.

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Desleigh Owusu participated in many sports in Primary School but focused on athletics as she was successful in the sport. At age 14 she started training once or twice a week with a Little Athletics coach and around 15 started to take athletics seriously. That year, 2016, she improved nicely reaching a best of 11.95m in the triple jump and winning bronze in the Australian All Schools U16 event.

At age 16, she jumped 12.33m, by 17-years 12.98m and was second at the Australian U20 championships.

A week before COVID shut down the world in early 2020 she leapt 13.05m while aged 18. In 2021 in her first year as a senior athlete she reach a PB of 13.16m and won the silver medal at the Australian championships.

In 2022 she improved to 13.49 and was second at the Nationals, just 2cm behind Kayla Cuba’s wind assisted 13.51m jump.

After winning the 2023 National title, she made her Australia team debut at the World University Games, placing sixth with an equal PB jump of 13.49m.

In pursuit of Olympic selection in 2024, Desleigh defended her Australian title, won the Oceania title and set two PBs reaching a best of 13.68m. She was not the #4 Australian All-time in the triple jump, but she would ultimately miss qualification for Paris. “Every athlete dreams of going to the Olympics. Having come so close yet so far was a challenge I had to overcome.”

Determined to make the Tokyo World Championships, Desleigh’s 2025 campaign has been perfect. She has jumped big when it counted to score sufficient World Athletics points to qualify. She set two PBs at the Australian Championships 12.74m and 12.75m, ahead of winning the bronze medal at the World University Games in Germany where she bounded out to 13.86m, an 11cm PB and moved her to #3 Australian All-time. It was also the longest jump by an Aussie for 11-years. She will made history as the first Australian woman to compete in the triple jump at a global outdoor championships (world championships or Olympics).

Memorable sporting achievement: Bronze medal at World University Games…Hero: “All of the women around me who have impacted me in some way, whether it be my sisters, my friends, my mum or my aunties. They’ve all made me who I am today. My mum is definitely at the top of my list….Most influential person in career: ”My coach Andrew Murphy. He has believed in me at times l when I didn’t see it for myself. He has also been there for the highest points of my career as well as the lowest points”…Advice to your young self: “Don’t sweat the small things and trust in the process always. You learn so much more from things not going your way than when they do. Those are the moments that make you a better athlete, but most of all, a better person.” …Occupation: Human Resources Coordinator at a disability support company (2021-present)…Education: Bachelor of Social Science at Macquarie University (2021-2025)…Biggest challenge faced: “Missing out on the Paris Olympics. Every athlete dreams of going to the Olympics. Having come so close yet so far was a challenge I had to overcome this past year.” Interesting facts: has six siblings

@ 4 September 2025 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au