The men's
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 long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...
at the
2008 Olympic Games
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...
took place on 18–21 August at the
Beijing Olympic Stadium. Thirty-nine athletes from 26 nations competed.
[ The event was won by Nelson Évora of Portugal, the nation's first medal and victory in the men's triple jump. ]Leevan Sands
Leevan Sands (born August 16, 1981 Nassau) is a Bahamian triple jumper.
His personal best jump is 17.59 metres, achieved in 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. This is the current Bahamian record and won a bronze medal. He also won bronze medals ...
's bronze medal was the Bahamas' second bronze in the event, with the previous one in 1992.
Background
This was the 26th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 2004 Games were silver medalist Marian Oprea
Marian Oprea (born 6 June 1982) is a Romanian athlete, competing in triple jump, who won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games. His personal best is 17.81 meters.[Danil Burkenya
Daniil Sergeyevich Burkenya (; born July 20, 1978, in Ashgabat, Turkmen SSR) is a Russian track and field athlete who competes mainly in triple jump. He was a long jumper before taking up triple jumping in 2004, and the same year he won the bronze ...]
of Russia, fifth-place finisher Jadel Gregório
Jadel Abdul Ghani Gregório (born 16 September 1980) is a Brazilian athlete competing in long jump and triple jump. Based in São Paulo, he has competed in several international championships since 2001. His jump of 17.90m is the South American a ...
of Brazil, ninth-place finisher Kenta Bell of the United States, and Phillips Idowu
Phillips Olaosebikan Idowu, (born 30 December 1978) is a British athlete who specialised in the triple jump and was active at elite level between 2000 and 2014, with his greatest success coming between 2006 and 2011. He is a former World Outdo ...
of Great Britain, who had not made a legal mark in the final but whose qualifying round score (if it could have been carried over) would have placed him fifth. Nelson Évora of Portugal, who had finished 40th in 2004, had become the best triple jumper in the world over the intervening four years, winning the 2007 world championship and coming into the Beijing Games as the favorite.
Qualification
The qualifying standards were 17.10 m (26.9 ft) (A standard) and 16.80 m (26.41 ft) (B standard). Each National Olympic Committee
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...
(NOC) was able to enter up to three entrants providing they had met the A qualifying standard in the qualifying period (1 January 2007 to 23 July 2008). NOCs were also permitted to enter one athlete providing he had met the B standard in the same qualifying period.
Competition format
The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936. In the qualifying round, each jumper received three attempts to reach the qualifying distance of 17.10 metres; if fewer than 12 men did so, the top 12 (including all those tied) would advance. In the final round, each athlete had three jumps; the top eight received an additional three jumps, with the best of the six to count.[Official Report, Results Book for Athletics.]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading jump were as follows:
No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. The following national records were set during the competition:
Schedule
All times are China Standard Time
The time in China follows a single standard UTC offset, time offset of UTC+08:00, where Beijing is located, even though the country spans five geographical time zones. It is the largest sovereign nation in the world that officially observes only ...
(UTC+8
UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00.
It is the most populous time zone in the world, as well as a possible candidate for ASEAN Common Time, mainly due to China's large population, with an estimated population ...
)
Results
Qualifying
Qualifying Performance 17.10 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the Final.
Final
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's triple jump
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Triple jump at the Olympics
Men's events at the 2008 Summer Olympics