Godfrey Mokoena in the triple jump at the IAAF Continental Cup Marrakech 2014 (© Getty Images)
World and Olympic champion Christian Taylor of the United States should see the Americas through to victory, especially as he will feel he has a point to prove after missing out on a seventh IAAF Diamond League title in Brussels last Friday.
He was beaten to the Diamond trophy in the Belgian capital by his perennial rival Pedro Pablo Pichardo. Taylor’s 2018 best of 17.81m, set in Doha at the beginning of the season, has only been bettered by Pichardo, who won in Qatar with 17.95m.
In terms of this year’s list, Taylor's Americas teammate, Cristian Napoles of Cuba, is closest to him, having reached 17.34m.
But the dangers to the US competitor lie in two of the most experienced triple jumpers out there – Godfrey Mokoena, the 33-year-old South African who earned Olympic silver in 2008 and world silver a year later, and 34-year-old Nelson Evora of Portugal who last month won the European title with an effort of 17.10m, 10 years after winning the Olympic title in Beijing.
Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF
