Teddy Tamgho leaps to French Triple Jump record in New York Diamond League (© Victah Sailer)
New York, USA - Just as he did in the last minutes of the World Indoor Championships in Doha, Teddy Tamgho stole the show in the last minutes at the adidas Grand Prix - Samsung Diamond League, at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island in New York's East River.
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Tamgho, the newly-minted indoor World Triple Jump record holder and already the world leader at 17.63m coming in to the competition, took a few attempts to get his feet under him, with a 16.47m opening mark and a foul on his second attempt. He established himself in the lead with a 17.61m leap in the third round, however, underlined it with a 17.60m in the fourth, and then he really got warmed up.
First he shattered his world lead and the French national record with a 17.84m fifth attempt, setting the backstretch stands in a buzz and French journalists scrambling to meet morning-paper deadlines. Then, as though he'd just figured out how the technique worked, he hopped out to 17.98m (+1.2) with his last attempt, getting the attention of the main grandstand and everyone else.
"When the event began, I was nervous, but after the first attempt, I told myself, "You have to go"," said Tamgho, who was in New York without his coach, Laurence Billy. "I know I can jump 17 (metres) all the time, which is most important. I wanted to do more than 18 by my birthday, which is Tuesday, so I came close."
Tamgho left Christian Olsson well back at 17.62m (with a 3.4m/s tailwind, more than twice what Tamgho enjoyed) and World champion Phillips Idowu third in 17.31m (+1.9). Olsson had a rockier start than Tamgho and only overtook Idowu on his sixth attempt.
Tamgho's leap pushes him to third on the all-time triple jump list, behind only the two 18m skippers, Jonathan Edwards and Kenny Harrison, and it's the best mark in over a decade.
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