Coming off a stellar performance at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, OSU alum Jacob Fincham-Dukes of Harrogate, England, is still relishing in a dream come true. He represented his country in the long jump and placed in the top five.
“It has been something that I’ve been dreaming about for almost the last decade,” Fincham-Dukes says. “The energy was other-worldly. The village environment is cool, but nothing beats stepping out into that stadium, hearing [and] feeling the energy of 80,000 people. I’ll never forget it.”
Fincham-Dukes missed going to the 2021 Summer Olympics due to an injury that kept him out for 11 months.
“I knew after missing that Olympics I needed to be in Paris, and nothing was going to stop me,” he says. “I outperformed my world ranking; I came in ranked 20th and finished fifth, so I’ll be forever pleased at how well I represented myself.”
Fincham-Dukes attended OSU from 2015-2022, earning three undergraduate degrees in sports management, marketing and entrepreneurship, followed by a master’s in business administration.
The athlete says the road that led him to OSU from the UK was simple.
“Coach Z [Zivile Pukstas] recruited me for track and field,” he says. “She found me at a competition in the UK [and] gave me the prospectus. I spoke with her again at the world junior championships back in 2014. I visited campus in, I believe, February of 2015 and the rest is history.”
During college, he mainly competed in the long jump but was also on the 4×100 meter relay for a few seasons.
“I think my favorite accomplishments would be the four All-American awards I received,” he says. “And winning the indoor Big 12 title as a team my freshman year is something I’ll never forget – we won by a point and a half.”
Now in Dallas, Fincham-Dukes trains while working full-time in quality assurance for ISN.
“I thought I would’ve struggled with that balance more than I did when I started working, but I just do it side by side,” he says. “Mondays and Thursdays I’m up at 5 a.m. and head to the gym, go to work then work out again after work. Tuesdays and Fridays, [I’m] up at 6, work, then head to work out again.”
Fincham-Dukes’ road to the Olympics included earning a place as a top 32 long jump athlete in the world.
“I spent the season building up my results,” he says. “I also placed fourth at the European Championships this year and that boosted my rankings further.”
Then he won the British National Championships – cementing his place in Paris.
After the Olympics, Fincham-Dukes didn’t slow down. He continued training a few more weeks to compete at the Zurich Diamond League in September and now plans to take time to “completely relax” before getting ready for next season.
Outside of track and field, Fincham-Dukes enjoys spending time with his wife, Kylie, finding good places to eat, playing video games and hanging out with friends. His favorite place to grab food in Stillwater is Chicos on Perkins — and he’s also a fan of Eischen’s Bar in Okarche.
“Really, I just do anything to completely switch my mind off,” he says. “I spend the week working as well as training seven or eight times a week, so when I relax, I need to relax hard and just switch off.”
