Spaniard dethrones Pablo Pichardo by the narrowest of margins as the weather sprint any hopes of information tumbling
Jordan Diaz Fortun defeated reigning champion Pedro Pichardo to take Olympic gold within the triple soar in Paris on Friday night time (August 9) and end high of a podium that featured three males who have been born in Cuba however now compete for different nations.
The 23-year-old Spaniard, who went into the competitors because the world chief following his spectacular win with 18.18m on the European Championships in June, got here out on high once more over the Portuguese due to his opening leap of 17.86m (0.1).
Pichardo bought extremely near the lead together with his second-round soar of 17.84m (0.2) and seemed like he may even have flown into the lead together with his closing effort. That got here up as 17.81m, nevertheless, confirming Diaz because the victor.
Italian Andy Hernandez took bronze together with his closing effort of 17.64m (0.7) to sprint the hopes of Jamaican teenager Jamaican Jaydon Hibbert, who had reached 17.61m (-0.9) in spherical two. World indoor and outside champion Hugues Fabrice Zango was fifth with a better of 17.50m (-0.1).
World record-holder Jonathan Edwards was within the Stade de France crowd to observe proceedings and, given the truth that Diaz and Pichardo had each cleared 18 metres this yr, there had been hopes for one thing particular unfolding in Paris.
The Briton had admitted earlier than the ultimate that his well-known mark of 18.29m may fall and, on the very least, the Olympic file of 18.09m that had stood since 1996 gave the impression to be dwelling on borrowed time.
For that to occur, nevertheless, the situations wanted to be good and heavy rain simply earlier than the competitors was as a consequence of get underway dented any hopes of information being damaged. The athletes nonetheless produced the closest of battles, however Edwards’ file lives on.
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