Yordanis Garcia of Cuba in the men's Decathlon (© Getty Images)
In a somewhat modest Triple Jump qualifying round, Only four jumpers managed the automatic qualifier of 14.45, with Asian record holder Xie Limei of China bringing the best mark into Monday evening's final.
The 23-year-old took care of business early with her first and only leap of 14.62m, nearly 40 centimetres beyond her pre-Berlin season's best, to easily move into her third consecutive global final since 2007. Xie has competed sparingly this season, but arrived in the German capital unbeaten in five low-key competitions this summer.
Defending champion, World leader and heavy favourite Yargelis Savigne wasn't far behind, reaching 14.53m despite a fairly stiff wind (-1.2 m/s) to move on easily as well. The 24-year-old Cuban comes to Berlin armed with nine of the world’s 10 farthest leaps, and no one today came close to revealing that an upset was in the making in the final.
Russia’s two-time World champion Tatyana Lebedeva (14.45m) nailed the auto qualifier spot on, also a season’s best. Lebedeva was second in Beijing last year and runner-up the year before in Osaka.
Others to advance include former World youth and World junior champion Mabel Gay (14.53m) of Cuba, who was just six centimetres shy of her season’s best; Jamaican Trecia Smith, the World champion in 2005; and Russian Anna Pyatykh (14.27m), who finished fourth, third and fourth in the last three editions of the World championships, and twice eighth in the Olympic Games.
14.13m was enough to qualify this time around; notable non-qualifiers included Yamilé Aldama of Sudan (14.11m) and Marija Šestak (13.69m) of Slovenia, the European indoor silver medallist and fifth place finisher in Osaka.
Olympic champion Françoise Mbango Etone of Cameroun did not start.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
The 23-year-old took care of business early with her first and only leap of 14.62m, nearly 40 centimetres beyond her pre-Berlin season's best, to easily move into her third consecutive global final since 2007. Xie has competed sparingly this season, but arrived in the German capital unbeaten in five low-key competitions this summer.
Defending champion, World leader and heavy favourite Yargelis Savigne wasn't far behind, reaching 14.53m despite a fairly stiff wind (-1.2 m/s) to move on easily as well. The 24-year-old Cuban comes to Berlin armed with nine of the world’s 10 farthest leaps, and no one today came close to revealing that an upset was in the making in the final.
Russia’s two-time World champion Tatyana Lebedeva (14.45m) nailed the auto qualifier spot on, also a season’s best. Lebedeva was second in Beijing last year and runner-up the year before in Osaka.
Others to advance include former World youth and World junior champion Mabel Gay (14.53m) of Cuba, who was just six centimetres shy of her season’s best; Jamaican Trecia Smith, the World champion in 2005; and Russian Anna Pyatykh (14.27m), who finished fourth, third and fourth in the last three editions of the World championships, and twice eighth in the Olympic Games.
14.13m was enough to qualify this time around; notable non-qualifiers included Yamilé Aldama of Sudan (14.11m) and Marija Šestak (13.69m) of Slovenia, the European indoor silver medallist and fifth place finisher in Osaka.
Olympic champion Françoise Mbango Etone of Cameroun did not start.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
