Report07 Aug 2017


Report: men's triple jump qualification – IAAF World Championships London 2017

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Christian Taylor in triple jump qualifying at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 (© Getty Images)

It was in the London Stadium in 2012 that Christian Taylor won the first of his two Olympic triple jump titles. Five years on, he is back in the same arena, seeking to complete a hat-trick of triple jump titles at the IAAF World Championships.

The smooth-striding US athlete will be looking to not just venture beyond the great Jonathan Edwards, as the first three-time winner of a world outdoor crown but also as holder of the world record.

Edwards himself arrived in London, for television duty with Eurosport, predicting that Taylor would eclipse the 18.29m that the Briton jumped to win his first world title in Gothenburg in 1995.

We shall see come Tuesday’s final. First things first. The smooth-striding Taylor needed just one jump in qualifying to secure his passage, bounding out to 17.15m (+0.3).

"Get the world record? Why not here?” Taylor pondered as he made his way from the track. “I made that promise to myself.

“I hope it is my time. I am staying optimistic. I am chasing that number more than you could ever know.

“But people don't realise that before a medal or a world record, you have to qualify. That is the most difficult and the first step. I need to stay calm."

Only two other men hit the standard in the opening round. Taylor’s US team-mate Chris Benard looked equally composed, and in fact ventured a little farther: 17.20m.

Cristian Napoles, the 18-year-old Cuban who won the IAAF World Youth title in 2015, also eased through, jumping 17.06m.

“This qualification gives me a lot of confidence,” said Benard. “To jump with Christian is always an honour.”

As it happened, in all three rounds nobody else managed to crack 17m so it took as little as 16.63m to make the cut of the top 12. 

Cuba’s Andy Diaz was next best, with 16.96m, followed by Will Claye, the US jumper who took Olympic gold behind Taylor in Rio and London, with 16.95m.

Portugal’s Nelson Evora, the 33-year-old world champion of 2007 and Olympic gold medal winner of 2008, was sixth on the qualifying list with 16.94m.

The other six were: 2009 bronze medallist Alexis Copello of Azerbaijan (16.89m), 2015 European indoor silver medallist Pablo Torrijos (16.80m) of Spain, French champion Jean-Marc Pontvianne (16.78m),  Dominican Yordannis Duranova  (16.71m), China’s Ruiting Wu (16.66m) and Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez (16.66m).

Donald Scott of the US was the unlucky man in 13th spot, 3cm short of the top 12 with 16.63m. Germany’s world indoor silver medallist Max Hess withdrew before the start.

Simon Turnbull for the IAAF

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