Spaniard dethrones Pablo Pichardo by the narrowest of margins as the elements dash any hopes of records tumbling

Jordan Diaz Fortun defeated reigning champion Pedro Pichardo to take Olympic gold in the triple jump in Paris on Friday night (August 9) and finish top of a podium that featured three men who were born in Cuba but now compete for other nations.

The 23-year-old Spaniard, who went into the competition as the world leader following his impressive win with 18.18m at the European Championships in June, came out on top again over the Portuguese thanks to his opening leap of 17.86m (0.1).

Pichardo got incredibly close to the lead with his second-round jump of 17.84m (0.2) and looked like he might even have flown into the lead with his final effort. That came up as 17.81m, however, confirming Diaz as the victor.

Italian Andy Hernandez took bronze with his closing effort of 17.64m (0.7) to dash the hopes of Jamaican teenager Jamaican Jaydon Hibbert, who had reached 17.61m (-0.9) in round two. World indoor and outdoor champion Hugues Fabrice Zango was fifth with a best of 17.50m (-0.1).

World record-holder Jonathan Edwards was in the Stade de France crowd to watch proceedings and, given the fact that Diaz and Pichardo had both cleared 18 metres this year, there had been hopes for something special unfolding in Paris.

The Briton had admitted before the final that his famous mark of 18.29m could fall and, at the very least, the Olympic record of 18.09m that had stood since 1996 appeared to be living on borrowed time.

For that to happen, however, the conditions needed to be perfect and heavy rain just before the competition was due to get underway dented any hopes of records being broken. The athletes still produced the closest of battles, but Edwards record lives on.

More to follow.

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