Florentina Marincu celebrates after winning the triple jump at the 2013 World Youth Championships (© Getty Images)
Romania’s Florentina Marincu today achieved the Triple Jump and Long Jump double, with a 6.42m best effort for gold only two days after leaping to a 13.75m World youth lead in the former event.
The 17-year-old follows in the footsteps of her countrywoman, Cristine Spartaru who took victory in both horizontal jumps at the Sherbrooke, 2003 championships, as she finished just there centimetres clear of the USA’s Keturah Orji in second place.
Marincu opened her campaign with a modest 5.85m effort before progressing to 5.93m and 6.42m in the second and third rounds.
She could not improve any further with 6.24m in the fourth, followed by a foul and 6.19m but the World youth number one – with 6.54m set last month – held on for the gold.
Orji meanwhile, leapt a 6.39m lifetime best in the sixth and final round to add to her Triple Jump bronze medal and take the USA’s second ever medal in this event in the 14-year history of this championship.
In third, Poland’s 17-year-old Natalia Chacinska registered a 6.22m personal best to take her nation’s first ever medal in the Long Jump and pip Brazil’s Janaina Fernandes who herself jumped a 6.21m best.
The USA’s Courtney Corrin could not replicate her 6.31m from the qualifying round the previous day, as she leapt a best of 6.19m for fifth place.
