Triple Jump, Men

The United States had the two favorites in Christian Taylor and Will Claye, which was unusual for them in the triple jump. Taylor put a scare into everyone by fouling his first two jumps in the final but came through in round three with 17.15 to move into fifth place and advance to the final rounds. Italy’s Fabrizio Donato led after the first round with 17.38, a mark that was good enough for the bronze medal although he would surpass it with 17.48 in round four. Claye led after the third round, with a mark of 17.54 from round two.

In round four both Claye and Taylor improved, Claye moving out to 17.62 but Taylor took over the lead with 17.81 metres, a mark that would bring him the gold medal. Neither improved in the final two rounds as they finished 1-2 for gold-silver.

For Claye it was his second medal at London 2012, after a bronze medal in the long jump five days earlier. He became the eighth man in history to win a medal in both the long jump and triple jump at the same Games, the first since Japan’s Naoto Tajima, who won gold in the triple jump and bronze in the long jump at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The two Americans would come back four years later in Rio and repeat those performances, Taylor becoming the first man to defend Olympic gold in the triple jump since Viktor Saneyev had won three in a row from 1968-1976. The US 1-2 in London was the first time any nation had won gold-silver in the men’s triple jump since 1992, when Mike Conley and Charlie Simpkins also did it for the United States.