Cuban triple jumper Jordan Diaz (© Getty Images)
World U18 champion Jordan Diaz bettered his own world U18 best in the triple jump when sailing out to 17.41m in Havana on Friday (8).
The 17-year-old first broke the world U18 best when winning at the IAAF World U18 Championships Nairobi 2017 with 17.30m. He added two centimetres to that mark earlier this year when winning at a jumps-only meeting in Havana in February.
With just one month to go until the IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018, Diaz showed he is timing his peak right by leaping a lifetime best of 17.41m.
Not only was it an improvement on his own world U18 best, it also broke the North and Central American U20 record that had been held by Pedro Perez Duenas since 1971.
Although he’ll have two full seasons left as an U20 athlete, Diaz now sits third on the world U20 all-time list, just nine centimetres shy of Volker Mai’s world U20 record that was set in 1985.
Cristian Napoles, who preceded Diaz as the world U18 champion, finished second in Havana with a PB of 17.28m. Although he is still 19 years old, Napoles will turn 20 later this year and so won’t be eligible to compete in Tampere.
Other teenage jumpers showed fine form in the Cuban capital on Friday ahead of the World U20 Championships. World U18 champion Maikel Vidal won the long jump with 8.12m, finishing five centimetres ahead of world U18 silver medallist Lester Lescay. The duo now occupies the top two spots on the 2018 world U20 list.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
