Triple Jump, Men

This was a difficult event to predict as there was no clear favorite. Among the favorites for medals were the defending gold medalist from Portugal, Pedro Pichado, and Berkinabé Hugues Zango, the bronze medalist at Tokyo 2020. Pichado led the qualifiers at 17.44 metres, with Zango in third, and Spain’s Jordan Díaz between them in second. All three needed only one jump to qualify.

Jordan Díaz, the 2024 European Champion, opened the final with 17.86 metres and that would hold up for the gold medal. Pichardo challenged him in round two with 17.84 metres, good for silver, but Díaz would post 17.85 and 17.84 in rounds three and four. Behind them, Italy’s Andy Díaz took bronze with his fourth round effort of 17.64. Zango’s best mark of 17.50 came in round five but only placed him fifth.

The podium then was Jordan Díaz of Spain, Pedro Pichardo of Portugal, and Andy Díaz of Italy, but in a sense, one could argue that it was a medal sweep for Cuba. All three medalists were of Cuban origin but had elected to compete for other countries by Paris 2024. Pichardo was entered at the 2016 Olympics for Cuba but did not start. Jordan Díaz had won gold for Cuba at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, while Andy Díaz was also entered, but did not start, for his native island nation at Tokyo 2020.