Tatyana Lebedeva wins the Triple Jump at the Oslo Golden League meeting (© Getty Images)
Surprisingly, Russian Tatyana Lebedeva was left on the third place rung of the Olympic podium in the women’s Triple Jump last summer in Athens, although she started the competition as the clear favourite.
Her position as favourite is exactly the same just before Helsinki World Championships, as Lebedeva has consistently jumped over 15 metres in all competitions this summer, and is in the running for the TDK Golden League Jackpot after wins in Paris, Rome and Oslo. No other competitors have cleared that 15m this season.
Lebedeva only started her outdoor campaign in Paris on 1 July and easily jumped 15.11m. In Rome she leapt 15.03m and in Lausanne 15.05m. In Helsinki, the brand new Mondo track will do justice to Lebedeva’s rubber-ball-like springiness and speed, and then not even the World record (15.50m of Ukrainian Inessa Kravets), made in 1995 in Gothenburg, will be safe.
Judging from the competitions this summer, the most important threat to the double World champion Lebedeva, 29, is 185 cm tall Jamaican Trecia Smith, whose scorecard this summer is also impressive: already in May in Fortaleza, Brasil, she jumped 14.91m and in Belem 14.81m, and even in July her result in Rome was 14.85m, and in Lausanne it was 14.81m.
Smith, 29, placed fourth in Athens and is now seeking for her first medal in a major championship.
Algerian Baya Rahouli has the same target in mind, as she jumped on 1 July in the Mediterranean Games in Almeria, Spain, her personal best 14.98m, after winning only two weeks before the Athens Grand Prix with 14.72m.
The fourth name who has done well this summer is Russian Anna Pyatykh, 24, who was placed second in Lausanne with her PB 14.88m. Additionally, she has thrice performed a result between 14.70m and 14.75m, and also won the European Cup Super League.
Athens gold medallist Francoise Mbango Etone of Cameroon is way off top level. She won last year in Athens with her PB of 15.30m but this season her best is only 13.84m!
The surprise silver medallist, Hrisopiyi Devetzi of Greece has jumped 14.62m to win the European Cup. She also had a winning result of 14.59m in Athens Grand Prix and took third place with 14.55m in Rome.
Sudan has entered Yamile Aldama, formerly from Cuba, in the championships. The World Indoor silver medallist, whose season best is 14.55m. Another former Cuban, but who is now an Italian, Magdeline Martinez jumped 14.69m in Padova, and in Bressassone in the Italian nationals produced a 14.59m result, but has a serious rival among her teammates. Simona La Mantia, 22, jumped in Palermo 14.69m and defeated Martinez in Bressassone by three centimetres.
A year younger Cuban Yargelis Savigne can do Triple Jump, as well as Long Jump to an exceptionally high standard. On the basis of her results in Padova 14.63m and Zaragoza 14.56m, Savigne could spring a surprise. Another athlete having potential is 1.88m tall Spaniard Carlota Castrejana, who placed second in the Mediterranean Games with the Spanish record of 14.60m.
Helsinki 2005 media team
