Jaysuma Saidy Ndure (born 1 January 1984) is a Gambian-Norwegian sprinter. He is of Serer heritage of the noble Ndure family. In 2002, he went to Oslo, aged 18 and settled with his father who has lived in Norway since the 1970s. Having changed nationality from Gambia to Norway in 2006, he holds Norwegian records in the 100 and holds both the Gambian and Norwegian records in the 200 metres, and is the seventh and fourth fastest European of all times on the two distances. He has a bronze medal from the African Championships and several top-three placings in IAAF Golden League meets and the IAAF World Athletics Final.
Early and personal life
Saidy was born in Bakau, western Gambia, and raised by his mother. His first experience in the sprint events came in high school in his hometown. He reportedly took up the 200 metres event in order to avoid beating his friend, who already had taken up the 100 metres event. In June 2001 Saidy entered the West African Championships in Lagos, and won the 200 metres in 21.27. The result was a new Gambian record time. However, setting a national record did not inspire him to commence serious training, as he still preferred to play basketball and volleyball for fun with his schoolmates.
In 2002, Saidy moved to Oslo, Norway. A number of relatives already lived in the vicinity, most importantly Saidy's father who had lived in Norway since the 1970s. Searching for a leisure activity, Saidy decided to take up athletics again and joined one of the athletics clubs in the Norwegian capital, IL i BUL, whose training sessions were held in the internationally known Bislett stadion. Here, his talent was soon discovered and Saidy was put in contact with coach Olav Magne Tveitå, who still coaches him.
Saidy later established a relationship with Heidi Trollsås, a retired 400 m hurdler hailing from the Norwegian city Sandefjord who competed on the national level. The couple eventually moved to Blystadlia outside of Oslo, where they still live. Trollsås also functioned in the capacity of manager until 2008. Feeling that a professional agent was needed to handle Saidy's career, they hired noted Swedish athletics manager Daniel Westfeldt. Shortly thereafter Saidy signed a lucrative five-year contract with Nike.
Athletic career
2002 to 2003
In 2002, the year Saidy came to Norway, he started competing more seriously in more international competitions. Eighteen years of age, he was in the age group to compete at the World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica. He competed in the 200 metres, but did not progress past the first round with a fifth place in his heat. With the time of 21.53 seconds he finished fifth in his heat, behind such athletes as eventual bronze medalist Wes Felix and Leigh Julius. A week later Saidy entered the Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, England. Here he qualified for the next round for the first time, at the same time setting a new Gambian record of 21.25 seconds. He did exit in the next round after finishing fifth in the heat, the four best finishers in each heat progressing to the semi-finals. However, the quarter-final time of 21.20 seconds marked yet another Gambian record.
After arriving in Norway that summer, he tried the 100 metres and ran in 10.66 seconds in Drammen in August. In Norway alone, five athletes had better marks that season.
The 2003 season turned out to be another season with steady progression, but still without achieving the major international breakthrough. In July he broke his first Gambian 100 metres record, running in 10.52 seconds in Gothenburg. The old record was 10.54 seconds, set by Lamin Sanyang in May 2001 in Saidy's hometown Bakau. The next day he ran the 200 metres, and set his second Gambian record in two days with 21.18 seconds, this time in headwind.
At the 2003 African Junior Championships he won a bronze medal in the 100 metres and the 200 metres gold medal. In August Saidy competed at his first World Championships, still only 19 years old. The competition in the 2003 World Championships in Paris proved too tough, as Saidy once again failed to reach the second round. With 21.42 seconds, he finished sixth out of seven in a heat where eventual silver medalist Darvis Patton, among others, ran. Saidy did however have the fastest reaction time in his heat with 0.128 seconds.
On another note, in May Saidy he tried the 400 metres for the first time, clocking in 48.76 seconds in a local meet in Oslo. As of 2007, he has not run the distance again. Nonetheless, he has stated that the 400 metres might become his special event after turning 30 years old.