Caterine Ibarguen in the triple jump at the IAAF World Championships, Moscow 2013 (© Getty Images)
The 15-metre barrier lives to see another day.
September 2010 was the last time that mark was broken in the women’s Triple Jump and the drought continued through tonight’s final in Moscow.
It was a relatively uneventful final in which the top three athletes filled the podium places, albeit in a slightly different order to which they appear on the 2013 world lists.
In a final where 2004 Olympic Triple Jump bronze medallist Danila Burkenya was doing the officiating on the board, Olympic silver medallist Caterine Ibarguen lived up to her pre-event favourite status to win Colombia’s first gold medal at the IAAF World Championships.
All three medallists produced their best marks in the second round. Much to the delight of the home crowd, Russia’s Ekaterina Koneva took an early lead with 14.81m in the second round, but moments later she was usurped by Ibarguen by just four centimetres as she equalled Olha Saladuha’s world lead of 14.85m.
Saladuha, the defending champion from Ukraine, went out to 14.65m in that same round, but it was to remain her best mark of the competition.
With the medal positions remaining unchanged, there were a few changes further down the field. Jamaica’s Kimberly Williams improved to a personal best of 14.62m in the fourth round to get within a few centimetres of a medal.
Mabel Gay, the 2009 World silver medallist, leapt a season’s best of 14.45m to finish fifth, while Israel’s Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko finished sixth with 14.33m.
Anna Pyatykh, World bronze medallist in 2005 and 2009, was competing in her fifth World Championships final and finished seventh with 14.29m, one place ahead of team-mate Irina Gumenyuk’s 14.15m.
After recording her best mark in round two, Ibarguen came close to it with her fourth jump, landing at 14.83m. Koneva similarly came within two centimetres of her own best mark with 14.79m in round five.
Ibarguen ended her series with two big fouls – still below 15 metres, mind – although by the time she landed in the pit for the final time, the gold medal was already hers.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
