Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi agree to share Olympic high jump gold in Tokyo (© Getty Images)
As the year draws to a close, we look back at the key moments of 2021 in each area of the sport.
The series continues with a review of the jumping events and will be followed over the coming days by reviews of other event groups.
Women’s high jump
Season top list
2.05m | Mariya Lasitskene ⚪ ANA | Zurich | 8 September |
2.03m | Yaroslava Mahuchikh 🇺🇦 UKR | Stockholm | 4 July |
2.02m | Vashti Cunningham 🇺🇸 USA | Chula Vista | 29 May |
2.02m | Nicola McDermott 🇦🇺 AUS | Tokyo | 7 August |
2.00m | Nadezhda Dubovitskaya 🇰🇿 KAZ | Almaty | 8 June |
World Athletics rankings
1 | Mariya Lasitskene ⚪ ANA | 1459 |
2 | Yaroslava Mahuchikh 🇺🇦 UKR | 1443 |
3 | Nicola McDermott 🇦🇺 AUS | 1426 |
4 | Iryna Herashchenko 🇺🇦 UKR | 1368 |
5 | Vashti Cunningham 🇺🇸 USA | 1330 |
Olympic medallists
🥇 | Mariya Lasitskene ⚪ ANA | 2.04m SB |
🥈 | Nicola McDermott 🇦🇺 AUS | 2.02m AR |
🥉 | Yaroslava Mahuchikh 🇺🇦 UKR | 2.00m |
Full results |
Major winners
Olympic Games: Mariya Lasitskene ⚪ ANA 2.04m
Wanda Diamond League: Mariya Lasitskene ⚪ ANA 2.05m
European Indoor Championships: Yaroslava Mahuchikh 🇺🇦 UKR 2.00m
South American Championships: Jennifer Rodriguez 🇨🇴 COL 1.89m
World U20 Championships: Nataliya Spiridonova ⚪ ANA 1.91m
Season at a glance
The women’s high jump in 2021 was a season of three chapters.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh was the dominant performer through the early months as the Ukrainian youngster went undefeated through the indoor season, jumping 2.00m or above in all five of her competitions.
Still a teenager at the time, she scaled a national record of 2.06m in Banska Bystrica in February to move to third on the world indoor all-time list. It also remained the highest jump of the year, indoors or out.
Mahuchikh capped her indoor campaign with victory at the European Indoor Championships with 2.00m, but just one month later on the other side of the world, Australia’s Nicola McDermott made history by becoming the first woman from Oceania to clear two metres. The 24-year-old cleared 2.00m to win the Australian title in Sydney.
Six weeks later, the world lead was improved to 2.02m as USA’s Vashti Cunningham cleared a lifetime best in Chula Vista. Mahuchikh jumped back to the top of the 2021 world list at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm with her 2.03m victory. McDermott finished second with 2.01m, another Oceanian record.
But after those few months of exchanging world leads, the final chapter of the season began with the Olympic final.
Authorised neutral athlete Mariya Lasitskene, finally able to make her Olympic debut, won the gold medal with a leap of 2.04m. In a thrilling contest, McDermott took silver with a lifetime best of 2.02m and Mahuchikh earned bronze with 2.00m.
From then on, the event became a three-woman rivalry for the rest of the season as the trio dominated the remaining big meetings. Lasitskene won in Lausanne, McDermott triumphed in Paris, and Mahuchikh was the victory in Brussels.
But at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich, the last meeting of the year with all three Olympic medallists in attendance, Lasitskene once again came out on top, this time with an outdoor world-leading 2.05m from Mahuchikh (2.03m) and McDermott (2.01m).
Between them, the trio produced 15 of the 17 two-metre jumps during the 2021 outdoor season.
Kazakhstan’s Nadezhda Dubovitskaya, who started the year with a best of 1.90m, joined the two-metre club in 2021. The 23-year-old cleared an Asian record of 2.00m in Almaty, but didn’t make it beyond the qualifying round at the Olympics.
Throughout the season, there were also national records for Switzerland’s Salome Lang (1.97m), Montenegro’s Marija Vukovic (1.97m) and Trinidad & Tobago’s Tyra Gittens (1.95m).
Men’s high jump
Season top list
2.37m | Ilya Ivanyuk ⚪ ANA | Smolensk | 17 May |
2.37m | Maksim Nedasekau 🇧🇾 BLR | Szekesfehervar | 6 July |
2.37m | Gianmarco Tamberi 🇮🇹 ITA | Tokyo | 1 August |
2.37m | Mutaz Barshim 🇶🇦 QAT | Tokyo | 1 August |
2.36m | JuVaughn Harrison 🇺🇸 USA | College Station | 14 May |
World Athletics rankings
1 | Gianmarco Tamberi 🇮🇹 ITA | 1415 |
2 | Maksim Nedasekau 🇧🇾 BLR | 1398 |
3 | Mutaz Barshim 🇶🇦 QAT | 1366 |
4 | Ilya Ivanyuk ⚪ ANA | 1364 |
5 | Mikhail Akimenko ⚪ ANA | 1340 |
Olympic medallists
🥇 | Mutaz Barshim 🇶🇦 QAT | 2.37m WL |
🥇 | Gianmarco Tamberi 🇮🇹 ITA | 2.37m WL |
🥉 | Maksim Nedasekau 🇧🇾 BLR | 2.37m NR |
Full results |
Major winners
Olympic Games: Mutaz Barshim 🇶🇦 QAT & Gianmarco Tamberi 🇮🇹 ITA 2.37m
Wanda Diamond League: Gianmarco Tamberi 🇮🇹 ITA 2.34m
European Indoor Championships: Maksim Nedasekau 🇧🇾 BLR 2.37m
South American Championships: Fernando Ferreira 🇧🇷 BRA 2.29m
World U20 Championships: Yonathan Kapitolnik 🇮🇱 ISR 2.26m
Season at a glance
Putting aside records and stats, the men’s high jump provided one of the biggest stand-out moments of the year.
When Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi – the two last jumpers left in the Olympic final, and with an identical scorecard – decided against a jump-off and instead opted to share the gold medal, almost every athletics fan watching around the world was overcome with a wave of emotion.
It meant so much to these two jumpers in particular because they had both battled back from career-threatening ankle injuries in recent years. Tamberi sustained his injury just before the 2016 Olympics, while Barshim was forced to cut short his 2018 campaign for similar reasons.
But in Tokyo, both men were back to their flawless best and cleared all heights at the first of asking up to and including 2.37m to take a share of the world lead. After they each registered three failures at 2.39m, they made their decision to share the title.
With an unprecented five men clearing 2.35m and seven getting over 2.33m, the Olympic final achieved record depth.
Barshim didn’t compete again after the Games, but Tamberi continued his season. Still somewhat emotionally and physically drained, the Italian wasn’t quite at his best in Lausanne or Rovereto, but he then won in Chorzow (2.30m) and at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich (2.34m), enough to elevate him to the top spot in the world rankings.
Two other men shared the world-leading height of 2.37m. Maksim Nedasekau scaled that height three times in 2021: firstly in March to win the European indoor title, then at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Szekesfehervar, and then again in the Olympic final to take bronze.
Ilya Ivanyuk, meanwhile, jumped 2.37m in Smolensk in May but finished ninth in the Olympic final.
JuVaughn Harrison, also a talented long jumper, was another standout performer in 2021. The all-round gifted US athlete won NCAA jumps doubles indoors (2.30m / 8.45m) and out (2.33m / 8.27m), achieved the same double at the US Trials (2.33m / 8.47m) and went on to place seventh in the Olympic high jump final (2.33m) and fifth in the long jump (8.15m). The 22-year-old set a high jump PB of 2.36m at the SEC Championships in May.
In total, 26 men cleared 2.30m or higher outdoors in 2021 – the most to do so since 2017. Among them, there were national records for Korea’s Woo Sang-Hyeok (2.35m), Switzerland’s Loic Gasch (2.33m), New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr (2.31m), Mexico’s Edgar Rivera (2.31m) and Sri Lanka’s Ushan Thiwanka Perera (2.30m).
Women’s pole vault
Season top list
5.01m | Anzhelika Sidorova ⚪ ANA | Zurich | 9 September |
4.95m | Katie Nageotte 🇺🇸 USA | Eugene | 26 June |
4.90m | Holly Bradshaw 🇬🇧 GBR | Manchester | 26 June |
4.84m | Sandi Morris 🇺🇸 USA | Doha | 28 May |
4.82m | Nina Kennedy 🇦🇺 AUS | Sydney | 13 March |
World Athletics rankings
1 | Katie Nageotte 🇺🇸 USA | 1444 |
2 | Anzhelika Sidorova ⚪ ANA | 1433 |
3 | Katerina Stefanidi 🇬🇷 GRE | 1393 |
4 | Holly Bradshaw 🇬🇧 GBR | 1377 |
5 | Sandi Morris 🇺🇸 USA | 1330 |
Olympic medallists
🥇 | Katie Nageotte 🇺🇸 USA | 4.90m |
🥈 | Anzhelika Sidorova ⚪ ANA | 4.85m |
🥉 | Holly Bradshaw 🇬🇧 GBR | 4.85m |
Full results |
Major winners
Olympic Games: Katie Nageotte 🇺🇸 USA 4.90m
Wanda Diamond League: Anzhelika Sidorova ⚪ ANA 5.01m
European Indoor Championships: Angelica Moser SUI 4.75m
South American Championships: Stefanny Costillo 🇨🇴 COL 4.30m
World U20 Championships: Mire Reinstorf 🇿🇦 RSA 4.15m
Season at a glance
Anzhelika Sidorova may have become just the fourth woman in history to vault over five metres, but the season belonged to USA’s Katie Nageotte.
The US vaulter strung together an unbeaten run of eight competitions at the peak of the season, starting with her 4.93m PB clearance in Marietta in May and following it with a 4.84m victory at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha. She increased her PB to 4.94m, again in Marietta, in mid-June and went even higher to win the US Trials with 4.95m. After a 4.90m win in Monaco, she headed to Tokyo full of confidence.
But her mettle was put to the test on her opening height in the Olympic final as she needed all three attempts to get over 4.50m. She went on to clear 4.80m, 4.85m and then 4.90m to secure the gold medal. Sidorova secured silver with 4.85m and Britain’s Holly Bradshaw bagged the bronze with 4.85m.
Nageotte continued her winning ways with a 4.82m victory at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene, but her undefeated run ended two weeks later at the Diamond League final where she was unable to clear her opening height. It was there, however, where Sidorova scaled a world-leading 5.01m to join the elite five-metre club.
It was a solid year for depth in the event as 17 women cleared 4.70m or higher outdoors – just slightly down on the record depth witnessed in 2019 (20). And a record-equalling 51 women cleared 4.50m or higher outdoors. Some of the notable national record-breakers include Bradshaw (4.90m), Australia’s Nina Kennedy (4.82m) and Slovenia’s Tina Sutej (4.76m).
Men’s pole vault
Season top list
6.10m | Mondo Duplantis 🇸🇪 SWE | Hengelo | 6 June |
5.97m | Chris Nilsen 🇺🇸 USA | Tokyo | 3 August |
5.93m | Sam Kendricks 🇺🇸 USA | Zurich | 9 September |
5.93m | Timur Morgunov ⚪ ANA | Zurich | 9 September |
5.93m | Ernest John Obiena 🇵🇠PHI | Innsbruck | 11 September |
World Athletics rankings
1 | Mondo Duplantis 🇸🇪 SWE | 1513 |
2 | Chris Nilsen 🇺🇸 USA | 1429 |
3 | Sam Kendricks 🇺🇸 USA | 1413 |
4 | KC Lightfoot 🇺🇸 USA | 1381 |
5 | Renaud Lavillenie 🇫🇷 FRA | 1380 |
Olympic medallists
🥇 | Mondo Duplantis 🇸🇪 SWE | 6.02m |
🥈 | Chris Nilsen 🇺🇸 USA | 5.97m PB |
🥉 | Thiago Braz 🇧🇷 BRA | 5.87m SB |
Full results |
Major winners
Olympic Games: Mondo Duplantis 🇸🇪 SWE 6.02m
Wanda Diamond League: Mondo Duplantis 🇸🇪 SWE 6.06m
European Indoor Championships: Mondo Duplantis 🇸🇪 SWE 6.05m
South American Championships: German Chiaraviglio 🇦🇷 ARG 5.55m
World U20 Championships: Matvei Volkov 🇧🇾 BLR 5.45m
Season at a glance
The Mondo Show enjoyed another gripping season in 2021.
Having established himself as the world’s best vaulter in 2020 with two world record-breaking performances, Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis underlined his status as world No.1 this year, notching up 15 victories and a record 14 six-metre clearances between January and September, setting world-leading marks of 6.10m indoors and outdoors.
But Duplantis’s biggest achievements this year were the major titles he won. He took Olympic gold in Tokyo with 6.02m, and European indoor gold in Torun in March with 6.05m.
Apart from an uncharacteristic fourth-place finish in Lausanne just three weeks after the Olympics, Duplantis won eight competitions with six-metre vaults between June and September. The Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich was his final competition of 2021 and, fittingly, he won that too with 6.06m.
Aside from Duplantis, no other man scaled six metres outdoors, though two others did so indoors. France’s Renaud Lavillenie produced his highest vault since his former world record jump in 2014, clearing 6.06m in Aubiere. USA’s KC Lightfoot, meanwhile, became the newest member of the six-metre club with his 6.00m vault in Lubbock in February.
USA’s Chris Nilsen was Duplantis’s closest opponent in Tokyo, eventually securing silver with a PB of 5.97m. 2016 Olympic champion Thiago Braz showed his best form for five years to take bronze in Tokyo with 5.87m. With seven men clearing 5.80m and 12 men going over 5.70m, it was the highest quality Olympic final of all time.
There were notable breakthroughs this year for Menno Vloon, who set a Dutch indoor record of 5.96m, and Ernest John Obiena of the Philippines, who cleared an Asian record of 5.93m in September.
Women’s long jump
Season top list
7.17m | Ese Brume 🇳🇬 NGR | Chula Vista | 29 May |
7.14m | Tara Davis 🇺🇸 USA | Austin | 26 March |
7.13m | Brittney Reese 🇺🇸 USA | Eugene | 26 June |
7.08m | Chantel Malone 🇻🇬 IVB | Miramar | 27 March |
7.01m | Darya Klishina ⚪ ANA | Miramar | 27 March |
World Athletics rankings
1 | Ivana Spanovic 🇷🇸 SRB | 1407 |
2 | Malaika Mihambo 🇩🇪 GER | 1403 |
3 | Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk 🇺🇦 UKR | 1359 |
4 | Brittney Reese 🇺🇸 USA | 1333 |
5 | Ese Brume 🇳🇬 NGR | 1331 |
Olympic medallists
🥇 | Malaika Mihambo 🇩🇪 GER | 7.00m SB |
🥈 | Brittney Reese 🇺🇸 USA | 6.97m |
🥉 | Ese Brume 🇳🇬 NGR | 6.97m |
Full results |
Major winners
Olympic Games: Malaika Mihambo 🇩🇪 GER 7.00m
Wanda Diamond League: Ivana Spanovic 🇷🇸 SRB 6.96m
European Indoor Championships: Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk 🇺🇦 UKR 6.92m
South American Championships: Leticia Melo 🇧🇷 BRA 6.63m
World U20 Championships: Maja Askag 🇸🇪 SWE 6.60m
Season at a glance
Eight women long jumped seven metres or farther this season – the best annual depth in the event since 1988. But it was also one of the most wide-open disciplines of 2021 with no single dominant performer.
World champion Malaika Mihambo gained the Olympic title in Tokyo, Ivana Spanovic secured the Diamond trophy, Nigeria’s Ese Brume jumped the world-leading mark (7.17m), Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk took the European indoor title, and USA’s Tara Davis was the top indoor performer (6.93m).
The Olympic final itself was extremely close too with just three centimetres separating the eventual medallists.
Brume took an early lead with 6.97m, which was then matched by 2012 Olympic champion Brittney Reese. A 6.95m leap in the penultimate round gave Reese the edge on countback, but Mihambo saved her best for last and landed at 7.00m to secure the gold medal, denying Reese what would have been her ninth global title.
Brume’s African record of 7.17m from earlier in the season remained the best mark of the year, though Davis came close. The 2015 world U18 champion enjoyed a significant breakthrough in 2021, improving her best to 7.14m. She was one of three US women to jump beyond seven metres this year, along with Reese (7.13m) and heptathlon specialist Kendell Williams (7.00m).
But counting marks set in all conditions, triple jump star Yulimar Rojas produced the biggest leap of 2021. The Venezuelan sailed out to a wind-assisted 7.27m (2.7m/s) in La Nucia in June, also leaping a wind-legal national record of 6.88m within her series.
Men’s long jump
Season top list
8.60m | Miltiadis Tentoglou 🇬🇷 GRE | Athens | 26 May |
8.50m | Juan Miguel Echevarria 🇨🇺 CUB | Tokyo | 31 July |
8.47m | JuVaughn Harrison 🇺🇸 USA | Eugene | 27 June |
8.39m | Jeff Henderson 🇺🇸 USA | Chula Vista | 29 May |
8.39m | Maykel Masso 🇨🇺 CUB | Havana | 29 May |
World Athletics rankings
1 | Miltiadis Tentoglou 🇬🇷 GRE | 1405 |
2 | Juan Miguel Echevarria 🇨🇺 CUB | 1380 |
3 | Thobias Montler 🇸🇪 SWE | 1356 |
4 | Tajay Gayle 🇯🇲 JAM | 1347 |
5 | Yuki Hashioka 🇯🇵 JPN | 1323 |
Olympic medallists
🥇 | Miltiadis Tentoglou 🇬🇷 GRE | 8.41m |
🥈 | Juan Miguel Echevarria 🇨🇺 CUB | 8.41m |
🥉 | Maykel Masso 🇨🇺 CUB | 8.21m |
Full results |
Major winners
Olympic Games: Miltiadis Tentoglou 🇬🇷 GRE 8.41m
Wanda Diamond League: Thobias Montler 🇸🇪 SWE 8.17m
European Indoor Championships: Miltiadis Tentoglou 🇬🇷 GRE 8.35m
South American Championships: Arnovis Dalmero 🇨🇴 COL 7.94m
World U20 Championships: Erwan Konate 🇫🇷 FRA 8.12m
Season at a glance
The women’s long jump at the Olympics may have been close, but the men’s long jump final in Tokyo was even closer.
Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria took the lead in round three with 8.41m, but that mark was matched in the final round by Miltiadis Tentoglou – and as the Greek had the better second-best jump, he secured the title on countback. Echevarria’s compatriot Maykel Masso earned bronze with 8.21m.
Tentoglou made just one appearance on the Wanda Diamond League circuit, winning in Monaco with 8.24m, but he pieced together a solid season and was undefeated from mid-February onwards. He jumped a world-leading 8.60m in Athens in May and backed it up with a 8.48m victory at the Greek Championships in Patra in June. He also won the European indoor title in March with 8.35m.
Like Tentoglou, Echevarria and world champion Tajay Gayle also produced some big jumps in domestic competitions. Echevarria sailed out to a wind-assisted 8.55m (3.1m/s) in Havana in May, while Gayle leapt 8.56m (2.5m/s) in Kingston. Gayle reproduced the same kind of form to win at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm with 8.55m (2.3m/s).
Just as he did in the high jump, USA’s JuVaughn Harrison made a significant breakthrough in the long jump this year. After dominating the US collegiate scene in both jumps, he won the US Trials long jump title with a PB of 8.47m on the same day he won the high jump crown. The 22-year-old then went on to place fifth in the Olympic final with 8.15m.
Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner finished just outside the top 10 on the 2021 season list. His world decathlon best and Canadian record of 8.28m in Götzis puts him 11th on the world list for this year.
Women’s triple jump
Season top list
15.67m | Yulimar Rojas 🇻🇪 VEN | Tokyo | 1 August |
15.01m | Patricia Mamona 🇵🇹 POR | Tokyo | 1 August |
14.98m | Shanieka Ricketts 🇯🇲 JAM | Doha | 28 May |
14.93m | Liadagmis Povea 🇨🇺 CUB | Havana | 22 May |
14.92m | Keturah Orji 🇺🇸 USA | Chula Vista | 25 April |
World Athletics rankings
1 | Yulimar Rojas 🇻🇪 VEN | 1512 |
2 | Shanieka Ricketts 🇯🇲 JAM | 1397 |
3 | Patricia Mamona 🇵🇹 POR | 1361 |
4 | Kimberly Williams 🇯🇲 JAM | 1337 |
5 | Ana Peleteiro 🇪🇸 ESP | 1334 |
Olympic medallists
🥇 | Yulimar Rojas 🇻🇪 VEN | 15.67m WR |
🥈 | Patricia Mamona 🇵🇹 POR | 15.01m NR |
🥉 | Ana Peleteiro 🇪🇸 ESP | 14.87m NR |
Full results |
Major winners
Olympic Games: Yulimar Rojas 🇻🇪 VEN 15.67m
Wanda Diamond League: Yulimar Rojas 🇻🇪 VEN 15.48m
European Indoor Championships: Patricia Mamona 🇵🇹 POR 14.53m
South American Championships: Keila Costa 🇧🇷 BRA 13.67m
World U20 Championships: Maja Askag 🇸🇪 SWE 13.75m
Season at a glance
Yulimar Rojas was the top performer in all eight of her triple jump competitions this year, jumping comfortably beyond 15 metres in all of them – and topped, of course, by her stunning 15.67m world record to win the Olympic title in Tokyo.
In just her second competition of the year, the Venezuelan jumped a national record of 15.43m, following it with 15.15m in Doha, a wind-assisted 15.34m in Madrid and 15.12m in Monaco.
Her strong form continued after the Olympics too, with a windy 15.56m and wind-legal 15.52m to win in Lausanne, plus a 15.48m victory at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich. The 26-year-old now owns five of the top six jumps in history in any conditions, all of which were produced this year.
Portugal’s Patricia Mamona was the only other woman to surpass 15 metres this year, and she did so when it mattered most, jumping a national record of 15.01m to secure Olympic silver. Spain’s Ana Peleteiro also set a national record in Tokyo, jumping 14.87m for the bronze medal.
Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts just missed out on a medal in Tokyo, but was consistent on the international circuit and jumped a PB of 14.98m at the Diamond League meeting in Doha. Cuba’s Liadagmis Poveo (14.93m) and USA’s Keturah Orji (14.91m) also set PBs this year and went on to place fifth and seventh respectively in the Olympic final.
With 10 women jumping 14.62m or farther, 2021 had the best depth of any outdoor season since 2007.
Men’s triple jump
Season top list
17.98m | Pedro Pichardo 🇵🇹 POR | Tokyo | 5 August |
17.82m | Hugues Fabrice Zango 🇧🇫 BUR | Szekesfehervar | 6 July |
17.63m | Andy Diaz 🇨🇺 CUB | Havana | 4 June |
17.57m | Zhu Yaming 🇨🇳 CHN | Tokyo | 5 August |
17.44m | Will Claye 🇺🇸 USA | Tokyo | 5 August |
World Athletics rankings
1 | Pedro Pichardo 🇵🇹 POR | 1470 |
2 | Hugues Fabrice Zango 🇧🇫 BUR | 1413 |
3 | Yasser Mohamed Triki 🇩🇿 ALG | 1369 |
4 | Zhu Yaming 🇨🇳 CHN | 1323 |
5 | Will Claye 🇺🇸 USA | 1323 |
Olympic medallists
🥇 | Pedro Pichardo 🇵🇹 POR | 17.98m NR |
🥈 | Zhu Yaming 🇨🇳 CHN | 17.57m PB |
🥉 | Hugues Fabrice Zango 🇧🇫 BUR | 17.47m |
Full results |
Major winners
Olympic Games: Pedro Pichardo 🇵🇹 POR 17.98m
Wanda Diamond League: Pedro Pichardo 🇵🇹 POR 17.70m
European Indoor Championships: Pedro Pichardo 🇵🇹 POR 17.30m
South American Championships: Alexsandro Melo 🇧🇷 BRA 16.97m
World U20 Championships: Gabriel Wallmark 🇸🇪 SWE 16.43m
Season at a glance
When Hugues Fabrice Zango kick-started his year with a world indoor record of 18.07m, it appeared as though the Burkinabe jumper would be the man to beat in the triple jump in 2021.
The 28-year-old went on to have his best season to date, but his indoor season opener remained his best mark of the year, and he appeared somewhat frustrated with his third-place finish at the Olympic Games.
Instead it was Pedro Pichardo who rose to the occasion when it mattered most. Having won three global silver medals in the past eight years, the Portuguese jumper finally landed his first senior global crown with his 17.98m victory in Tokyo.
He suffered two early-season outdoor defeats, but won his other seven competitions in 2021, including the Olympic Games, the European Indoor Championships and the Wanda Diamond League final.
Between them, Pichardo and Zango had won most of the big meets on the circuit leading into the Olympics, so it was no surprise to see them on the podium. But Zhu Yaming’s silver-medal-winning 17.57m leap was perhaps the biggest shock of the competition. The Chinese jumper added 17 centimetres to his PB to finish in between Pichardo and Zango.
It was a close Olympic final as multiple world and Olympic medallist Will Claye finished just three centimetres shy of a podium position (17.44m) in fourth and Algeria’s breakthrough performer Yasser Triki was close behind in fifth (17.43m).
In total, 28 men jumped 17.00m or farther outdoors in 2021. The last season with better depth was 2009.
World Athletics