Triple jump, similar but different from long jump

The main thing that separates the Long Jump from the Triple Jump is the three jumps need to score their distance, whereas the Long Jump is done by a long run up and one final leap. The Triple Jump is competed on a 40 metre runway where the athletes will be their three jumps 11 metres prior to the sand pit. At this mark the athletes will commence their Hop-Step-Jump in one continuous motion.

The origin of the triple jump is not clear but it has been dated back to the Ancient Olympic Games as well as the Tailteann Games in Ireland in 1829 B.C. This event has maintained is popularity throughout the ages as it was one of the inaugural events in the 1^st Mondern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. The Women’s Triple Jump was introduced to the Olympics 100 years later during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Currently the World Records for the Men’s and Women’s Triple Jump are set at an astounding 18.29m and 15.50m respectively. These marks were both set at the Göteborg World Championships in 1995 by Great Britain’s Jonathan Edwards (GBR) and the Ukraine’s Inessa Kravets.

There are two other very notable athletes in the Triple Jump. The first being Mikio Oda (JPN), who became the first Asian World Record Holder in the event with a jump of 15.21 m at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics Games. The next athlete to break the World Record was Nambu Chuhei (JPN) who beat his teammate’s record at the 1932 L.A. Olympic Games with a jump of 15.72m.