America had two of the top three spots heading into the Men’s triple jump, with either Christian Taylor or Will Claye hoping to bring home the gold for the U.S. of A on Aug 16. Ultimately it was Christian Taylor whose hop, step and jump landed the Olympic track and field victory.
What an incredible win! Christian Taylor, 26, took home the Olympic gold medal for his amazing triple jump with a distance of 17.86m. While he may not have broke the world record of 18.29m that has stood for 21 years as some had predicted, his leap was absolutely incredible. American and 2012 London Olympic gold medalist Christian came into the event with a personal best of 18.21 and oddsmakers thought he could come though with a world record jump to win gold.
Going in to the finals, Christian won the qualifying round with a jump of 17.24m, followed closely by China’s Dong Bin with 17.10m and fellow Team USA member Will Claye, 25, in third at 17.05m. Team USA has an incredibly strong track and field team for the Rio Games so it was expected that one or both of our qualifiers would be on the podium once medals were handed out.
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If you’re not familiar with the triple jump, it’s really quite a an interesting event to watch because it combines so many track and field skills all wrapped into one. First the competitor breaks into a long full sprint before taking two long hops on the track before hitting the final mark and sailing into the air over sand just like long jumpers do. But unlike long jumpers, they have the additional obstacle of being slowed down twice before finally making their final jump. Christian actually competes in both events but stuck to the triple jump as his main Olympic focus.
HollywoodLifers, are you impressed by Christian’s win in the triple jump?
