Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun, triple jump winner at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun claimed gold in the men's triple jump at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Friday (9), becoming the first Spanish man to win a senior global title in the discipline.
Just like his battle with defending Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo at the European Championships two months ago, Diaz Fortun won by a narrow margin, leaping 17.86m to the Portuguese athlete's 17.84m.
Italy's Andy Diaz Hernandez took bronze with 17.64m, just three centimetres ahead of Jamaican teenager Jaydon Hibbert, on the comeback after injury.
The European Championships in Rome was just the second competition in history in which two men surpassed 18 metres, as Diaz Fortun soared to third on the world all-time list with 18.18m to beat Pichardo with 18.04m. While the distances were not quite as far in Paris, the contest was no less thrilling, with just two centimetres separating the top two and three centimetres between third and fourth.
Competing on a wet track following the earlier rain, world U20 champion Hibbert had opened with 17.31m and Diaz with 17.63m. Pichardo and Diaz Fortun both made a statement from the off, respectively leaping 17.79 and 17.86m.
That opener remained Diaz Fortun’s best and although Pichardo got very close with 17.84m in the second round, the Spanish athlete narrowly held on to victory. He backed up his winning leap with marks of 17.64m, 17.85m, 17.84m and 17.25m.
After a foul in round three, 17.52m in round four and a pass in round five, it looked like Pichardo might have saved his best for last but at 17.81m it was just a few centimetres off Diaz Fortun’s lead.
Diaz Hernandez ended his own competition on a high as he improved with his final attempt – his 17.64m being a centimetre farther than he managed in the first round, which cemented his bronze medal position ahead of Hibbert, who jumped 17.61m in round two.
Burkina Faso’s world indoor and outdoor champion Hugues Fabrice Zango finished fifth with 17.50m – the best ever mark for fifth place in any competition.
Salif Mane's 17.41m for sixth place, the 17.38m Max Hess jumped for seventh and the 17.34m by Lazaro Martinez for eighth were all also best marks-for-place.
“To be an Olympic champion is the biggest achievement I have, it has been my dream since I was a kid,” said Diaz Fortun. “I even have something on Facebook from 2017, when I won the World U18 Championships, and I wrote down that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.
"I did it. I'm super happy with today's results. It was a really good score and I have the gold medal.”
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
| MEN'S TRIPLE JUMP MEDALLISTS | ||
| 🥇 | Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun (ESP) | 17.86m |
| 🥈 | Pedro Pichardo (POR) | 17.84m |
| 🥉 | Andy Diaz Hernandez (ITA) | 17.64m |
| Full results | ||
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