Marian Oprea (ROM) - 17.81m Triple Jump in Lausanne (© Hasse Sjögren)
For many years now, it has been easy to predict what will happen in men’s Triple Jump at major championships. Jonathan Edwards of Britain dominated the event for years, and after Edwards retired, Christian Olsson of Sweden took over from him. Olsson won the World Championship title in 2003 and the Olympic gold medal last year. He will not be defending his title in Helsinki because of a persistent foot injury.
The strong favourite to take home the gold medal in Helsinki is Marian Oprea of Romania. Oprea’s form has been impressive: at the Grand Prix meet at Lausanne, he jumped a new national record of 17.81m. Another convincing win for Oprea was the Grand Prix at Athens with 17.52m.
Oprea was the Olympic silver medallist at Athens, so he knows what it takes to perform under great pressure.
The man most likely to add to the pressure on Oprea comes from Brazil. Jadel Gregorio has defeated Oprea this year in late July in Stockholm, where Gregorio jumped 17.48m and Oprea 17.44m. This should give more confidence to the Brazilian giant, who towers over the others at 202 cm.
Gregorio was in top form already in May, when he jumped 17.73m and 17.71m at Sao Paulo and 17.58m at Rio de Janeiro. Last year, Gregorio was left in fifth place at the Olympics.
But it was Oprea’s turn to be the winner in Lausanne in July, Gregorio jumped only 17.34m and he finished third behind Oprea and Bulgarian Momchil Karailiev, who jumped a wind-assisted 17.36m. In legal conditions, Karailiev’s best mark is 17.19m.
Brazilian Rodrigo Mendes also has one impressive wind-assisted mark to his name, 17.54m from Sacramento. His best legal result is a modest 17.00m. A more serious chance to be a medal contender is Igor Spasovkhodskiy of Russia, the national champion with 17.32m. His record in major championships is patchy, he won the bronze at the World Championships in 2001, and he is European Indoor champion but he has often not qualified for the final.
One man certain to provide tough competition is Yoandri Betanzos of Cuba. The bronze medallist in Athens has mainly competed in his home country and his best mark this season is 17.39m. Charles Michael Friedek of Germany won the World Championships in 1999, and he jumped 17.39m in June. Lately he has been troubled with a thigh injury.
Nathan Douglas is at 22 years of age the new British hope in the Triple Jump. He jumped his PB of 17.64m in Manchester, and he won the London Grand Prix meet with 17.32m.
Of the experienced jumpers, Karl Taillepierre showed good form at Angers winning the French championships with a personal best of 17.45m. Kenta Bell and Walter Davis of the United States are seasoned competitors, and their success would not be a surprise even though they have not yet won any major championships. Godfrey Mokoena set the South African national record of 17.25m in April, but has been competing very little in Triple Jump since concentrating on the Long Jump during the summer.
Back in 1983 in Helsinki, Zdiszlaw Hoffmann of Poland surprised everyone by becoming the first World champion in the Triple Jump. A surprise of this magnitude is not likely, unless perhaps Ndiss Kaba Badji of Senegal would provide it. Badji jumped 17.15, a new national record, in April. Another outside contender Li Yanxi of China. He has progressed well following his World Junior Championships silver medal and set a personal best in the Prefontaine Classic at Eugene in June with a 17.15m jump to finished second there, but has not competed since.
Helsinki 2005 media team
