Ashia Hansen in action in the triple jump at the 1998 European Indoor Championships in Valencia (© Getty Images)
Ashia Hansen set a world indoor triple jump record at the European Indoor Championships at Valencia's Veldromo Luis Puig here today and joined Liz McColgan, who still owns the 5000m indoor record, as the only two British women currently figuring in the record books.
The 26-year-old cleared 15.16m to add 13 centimetres to the world mark set by Russia’s Yolanda Chen three years ago. In triple jumping terms, that is a mile.
The last accomplishment of this magnitude by a British athlete was also achieved by a triple jumper when Jonathan Edwards set the world outdoor record in Gothenburg three years ago.
It also spectacularly exorcised the ghosts of European Indoors past for Hansen. In Paris in 1994 she was knocked out in qualifying and two years ago, in Stockholm, she did not register a mark in the final and only changed her mind after receiving fan mail telling her to keep her chin up.
These disasters had led some in the sport to question her competitive temperament, but that myth was laid to rest gloriously here following a memorable contest with Sarka Kasparkova, the world champion.
The Czech jumper led for the opening two rounds before Hansen took the lead with an effort of 14.69m.
Kasparkova came back in the fourth round to regain the lead with 14.76m. It lasted less than five minutes before Hansen produced her monster effort which was 31 centimetres farther than she’s ever managed before.
"I can’t believe it," she said. "It blew my mind to go so far. I wasn’t expecting it because I was having a lot of problems with my run-up.
"As soon as I hit the sand I knew it was over 15 metres but I didn’t know it was a world record. The step phase just seemed to go on for ever."
Hansen was born in Evansville, Indiana, relocated to Ghana as a baby and then moved to the UK when she was six. Her path to triple jump glory has been almost as convoluted. She started in the sport as an unsuccessful middle-distance runner before switching to the sprints, high jump, long jump and finally, the triple jump.
The pressure will be on Edwards now to make it a golden double when the men’s final takes place on Sunday. Edwards is the red-hot favourite for the title but warned that striking gold will not be easy as he bids to end a run of two successive silver medals in the 1996 Olympics and last year’s World Championships. "But I will be going out all guns blazing," he promised.
Duncan Mackay for the IAAF
