With five men surpassing the automatic qualifying standard of 16.95m and two others finishing just two centimetres short the men’s Triple Jump qualification round proved a quality affair.
Round one saw three men securing their ticket for Sunday’s final with former European Under 23 champion Dmitrj Valukevic of Slovakia the first one at 17.13m. Italian record holder Fabrizio Donato was the next one through, the 31-year-old former World Indoor finalist landing at 16.96m.
The third man to make it through at his first attempt was Cuba’s former World Junior champion David Giralt whose 17.20m effort was the furthest jump of the evening.
Two other men broke the 17 metres barrier and both made it with their second attempt of the day. Britain’s Philips Idowu who won gold at Birmingham’s European Indoor Championships last year and 2007 US champion Aarik Wilson jumped 17.05 and 17.13 respectively.
World reigning champion Nelson Evora, who leads the world’s Indoor lists at 17.33m had a best effort of 16.93m tonight, which in the end was good enough to make it through.
The second Cuban in the field, Osniel Tosca and Olympic bronze medallist Danil Burkenya of Russia make up the eight for Sunday’s final.
Grenada’s Randy Lewis whose 17.27m recent PB is the second best jump in the world this indoor season couldn’t go further than 16.77m tonight and failed to advance.
Laura Arcoleo for the IAAF
