The men's triple jump was one of four jumping events on the

Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Olympiad, twelve athletics events were contested. A total of 25 medals (12 silver for winners, 13 bronze for runner-up, none for third) were awarded. The medals were later denoted as 37 modern medal ...

programme. There were 7 competitors from 5 nations in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

, then known as the "hop, skip, and jump" despite the wide range of techniques used by the competitors. The event was held on 6 April, immediately after the first heats of the 100 metre race. Since there was only one round of the triple jump, the winner was crowned as the first modern Olympic champion.

Background

This was the first appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. There were 11 entrants, but only 7 men actually started.Official Report, pp. 62–63.

Competition format

There was a single round of jumping. There were no rules on the jumps allowed. "The styles of the medalists were described in The Field as follows: Connolly took two hops on his right foot and then a jump; Tuffèri performed a hop, step and a jump in the standard English method; and Persakis used two steps and a jump."

Records

There were no standing world records (the IAAF began ratifying records in 1912) or Olympic records (as this was the first Games) before the event.

James Brendan Connolly James Brendan Bennet "Jamie" Connolly ( ga, Séamas Breandán Ó Conghaile, October 28, 1868 – January 20, 1957) was an American athlete and author. In 1896, he was the first modern Olympic champion. Early life Connolly was born to p ...

set the initial Olympic record at 13.71 metres.

Schedule

The exact time of the contest is not known; it was the second event of the Games. The first day began with the arrival of the King and a brief opening ceremony at 3 p.m., followed by the first round of the 100 metres before the triple jump began.

Results

References

Sources

* (Digitally available a
la84foundation.org
* (Excerpt available a
la84foundation.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics - Men's triple jump Men's jump triple Triple jump at the Olympics