Triple Jump, Men

Since the mid-1920s the Japanese had been the acknowledged masters of this event, winning the last two gold medals. This would continue in 1936 with Japan taking gold and silver and placing all three jumpers in the top six. At the 1934 Far East Championships, Kenkichi Oshima had won the triple jump, with Masao Harada second. In the long jump Harada had also finished second, to Naoto Tajima. Those three constituted the Japanese triple jump contingent in Berlin. They would be challenged by Australian Jack Metcalfe, who had broken the world record in 1935. Metcalfe opened with 15.50 (50-10¼), but Tajima took the first round lead with 15.76 (51-8½), and that would be good enough for the gold medal. However, in round four, he broke the sand at 16.00 (52-6) for a world record, 22 centimetres beyong Winter’s mark. Harada moved into second with 15.66 (51-4½) in the final round. World War II would effectively end Japanese dominance in this event. In 1952 they had a jumper finish 6th and in 1956, two of their jumpers placed 7th and 8th, but no Japanese has won a medal in any major international competition since.