Sweden’s European champion Christian Olsson made himself a firm favourite for the triple jump gold medal on Monday evening when he qualified automatically with his first leap of the day.
Olsson’s 17.56m effort was the furthest of all the qualifiers and one of only three beyond 17 metres. The others came from Cubans David Giralt, who produced a lifetime best of 17.31m on his second jump, and Yoandri Betanzos, who leapt 17.03m on his third.
But the second best jumper this year, Romania’s Marian Oprea, was one of two surprising eliminations. Oprea has jumped 17.63m this year, but could only manage 16.55m. The USA’s Walter Davis was another below par. Having produced a 17.55m jump in June, he could only reach 16.60m today.
The Olympic champion and world record holder Jonathan Edwards of Great Britain was one centimetre short of the automatic qualifying standard of 16.95m but still went through to Monday’s final. The defending champion, Edwards leapt 16.94m on his second attempt but clearly did not look comfortable jumping on his recently injured right ankle.
Edwards, who announced yesterday that he would retire after these championships, managed two successful attempts, but each time appeared to limp as he walked back to his chair. Shaking his head, he then declined to take his third effort.
Cuba had a good morning, for its third jumper, Yoelbi Quesada, produced a season’s best of 16.97m. The only other automatic qualifier was the USA’s Kenta Bell, who reached 16.95m. A relatively modest 16.71m was needed to reach the final.
