Aleksandra Nacheva in the triple jump at the IAAF World U18 Championships Nairobi 2017 (© Getty Images)
The youngest athlete in the field may well be the one who walks away with gold in the women’s triple jump, as Bulgaria’s Aleksandra Nacheva tops the 2018 lists.
She was a silver medallist at the IAAF World U18 Championships Nairobi 2017 at the age of just 15. She broke new ground when winning the Bulgarian U20 title in June with a leap of 14.00m, a world U20 lead, which may be good enough for gold if she can reproduce it in the final next Sunday.
However, no one who pulls on a Cuban vest is ever to be discounted in a horizontal jumps competition, and that’s especially true for Davisleidis Velazco. She finished 12th at this event two years ago, only able to produce 12.83m in the final after coming in with a best of 14.08m, but given her consistency this season it will come as a huge surprise is Velazco can’t avenge that loss with a medal.
The 18-year-old has surpassed 13 metres in every one of her eight competitions, her best jump coming in Havana back in February where she soared out to 13.92m.
However, there is impressive depth in the field, with 13 other athletes holding a season’s best beyond 13 metres. Of those, Slovenia’s Eva Pepelnak looks the most likely to contend for gold. A finalist at the IAAF World U18 Championships last year, the 17-year-old has since soared to a PB of 13.61m in Vyskov, Czech Republic, last month.
The leading South American challenger is Brazil’s Mirieli Estaili Santos, who has jumped 13.46m, while Romania’s Georgiana-Iuliana Anitei, neutral athlete Diana Adasko and Turkey’s Esra Yilmaz have all surpassed 13.40m and should be in contention for medals.
The Asian challenge will be led by China’s Pan Youqi who has a best of 13.21m, while Italy’s Camila Vigato, USA’s Jasmine Moore and Latvia’s Ruta Kate Lasmane are also contenders who could jump their way on to a podium.
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF
