Anita Stukāne

Anita Stukāne (née Balode, born 9 February 1954) is a Latvian former Soviet track and field athlete who competed in the long jump. Her personal best for the event was 6.80 m (22 ft 3 ¹⁄₂ in).[1]

Anita Stukāne-Balode

Personal information
Birth name	Anita Balode
Nationality	Latvian
Ethnicity	Latvian
Citizenship	Latvian
Born	(1954-02-09) 9 February 1954 Cēsis, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Education	Biology
Alma mater	University of Latvia
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Soviet Union Summer Universiade 1979 Mexico City Long jump IAAF World Cup 1979 Montreal Long jump

Her career flourished very briefly in the late seventies and early eighties. She first rose to prominence in 1978 when a jump of 6.69 m (21 ft 11 ¹⁄₄ in) ranked her tenth in the world for the season.[2] During her career, she set an indoor personal best of 6.62 m (21 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in).[3]

The 1979 season marked the pinnacle of her long jumping career. She won her first and only national title at the Soviet Spartakiad, clearing 6.66 m (21 ft 10 in) to come out as the Soviet Union's top woman jumper.[4] A lifetime best was achieved at the Universiade held in Mexico City, where she took advantage of the altitude to win the gold medal with a mark of 6.80 m (22 ft 3 ¹⁄₂ in), beating Jodi Anderson of the United States.[5] Only Brigitte Wujak jumper further that year. Stukane and Wujak went head-to-head at the 1979 IAAF World Cup and the Soviet athlete came out on top with a gold-medal winning leap of 6.64 m (21 ft 9 ¹⁄₄ in).[6]

Stukane continued to compete (later getting married and changing her name to Anita Balode-Stukāne), but her highest world ranking after 1979 was 20th in the 1981 season.[2]