Brazilian triple jumper Joao Carlos de Oliveira (© Getty Images)
Brazilian athletics remembered one of the most important dates in its history on 24 November 2006. On that day in 1956, triple jumper Adhemar Ferreira da Silva won his second Olympic gold medal in Melbourne with a result of 16.35m. In taking the victory, the “Brazilian Kangaroo” successfully defended the title he had won at the 1952 Games in Helsinki which he achieved with two World records, so helping to put Brazil in the map as one of the main forces in an event.
In total, set the World record five times in his career to leave it at 16.56m in 1955 when winning the Pan Am Games in the 2248m of Mexico City’s University stadium.
After da Silva came other torch bearers such as Nélson Prudêncio (1968 silver medallist and 1972 Olympic bronze medallist; one time World record breaker) and João Carlos de Oliveira (1976 and 1980 Olympic bronze medallist; one time World record breaker). De Oliveira, tragically lost his legs in a traffic accident in December 1981, just three months after winning his third IAAF World Cup title. At the time he was still the World record holder with 17.89m.
Fifty four years on from the da Silva’s Helsinki win, the Brazil’s glorious Triple Jump tradition legacy is still alive, and one of those current is Jadel Gregório, a man who has been among the world’s best for the past 4 years.
The 26-year-old Gregório has a PB of 17.73m from 2005 that still places him behind de Oliveira in the Brazilian all-time lists. Gregorio’s best international results are the silver medals obtained at the 2004 and 2006 World Indoor Championships and the second place he recorded at the 2006 World Cup. The 2.02m / 102kg giant has also reached the finals at the 2003 (5th) and 2005 World Championships (6th) and the 2004 Olympic Games (5th).
But Brazilian triple jumping is not just Gregório nowadays. Jefferson Dias Sabino (24) has been able to reach 17m for the first time in 2006, while jumping 17.22m in the Belém GP, on 21 May, to give the South American nation new options for the future.
Technical reasons
Tradition makes triple jumping one of the highest quality events in Brazil, but what makes the Brazilian jumpers so special?
“I think it’s something within the biotype of our athletes, the incredible sense of rhythm that our people have,” comments Nélio Alfano Moura, former coach of Gregório, and present trainer of the world’s best longer of 2006 Irving Saladino (PAN). “I don’t believe that we have gotten that far to say that we have created a Brazilian school of Triple, but we have adapted well all sorts of techniques according to the strong points that most of our athletes have”,
Moura, is one of the men who serves at the technical department of the Brazilian Confederation, and also works at the IAAF High Performance Technical Centre in São Paulo. He believes that “with all the exchange programmes in place around the world, and with the flow of information that today exist, it’s very hard to distinguish differences.”
“Technically speaking, the most used techniques in triple jumping are the “Hop-dominated”, which emphasizes the hop phase of the whole jump and was mostly used in the Soviet Union back in the 60’s and 70’s; the “Jump-dominated”, which is based on the third phase, the jump; and the “Balanced”, which tries to level the importance of both the hop and the jump.”
“The “jump-dominated” technique was not considered reliable up until 1975 when João Carlos de Oliveira reached 17.89m, setting the World record. That same technique was used by Willie Banks (USA) and Jonathan Edwards (GBR), the men who succeeded João Carlos as the World record holders, and honestly, I don’t believe that it is pure coincidence.”
“So, with those elements in hand, here in Brazil we try to adapt to the main characteristics of each jumper, after analyzing them, but prioritizing the speed of the jumper, when it’s possible. Then, we put the quality of each technical phase over the volume of work. We believe that we need to be technically solid in order to be better,” explains Moura, who’s also currently working with Jefferson Dias Sabino.
“It is undeniable that our tradition has been positive for the event, but we also understand that it sometimes can create some pressure on our athletes. The reason that João Carlos’ record has lasted so long as a national mark is because it was so outstanding, we can’t forget that it represented an improvement of 45cm to the previous World record.”
Chasing the record
Once he established himself over 17m, back in 2002, Jadel Gregório, who was then being coached by Moura, set his goal on trying to beat de Oliveira’s 17.89m record.
In 2006, the quest took him all the way to England, to train under the guidance of Peter Stanley, the man who brought Jonathan Edwards beyond 18m back in 1995.
“There is a team of people behind me,” says Gregório. “They advised me that going to England to train with Mr. Stanley would be my best option, and I followed that. I feel that the experience is being very productive for both parts; for Peter and for me. We are both growing and learning together.”
“I have seen different methods in England that made me believe that I still have a lot to learn in this event. I think the Triple jump is fairly new for me.”
“The whole team behind me believes that beating the record of João Carlos is possible, but I’m also focusing on writing my own story because each time is different.”
“2007 will be a year loaded with important events, and I approach it with the best mentality, once again spending part of the year in Newcastle (England), working with Peter,” concluded Gregório.
The pack behind the big man
After jumping 17.22m in 2006, and also after beating Gregório at the Troféu Brasil in September, Jefferson Dias Sabino has emerged as Brazil’s second power in the event.
“Jefferson had trained at several events in his formative phase, because he wasn’t giving us the indication that his future would be in the Triple,” explains Moura. “I believe that all those elements helped him physically and mentally in his development, and that, at his own pace, he can reach the same level obtained by Gregório, because he is very strong.”
“But he is not the only one we have… We are hoping to keep developing Thiago Jacinto Dias, a former IAAF World Youth champion in the Long Jump into a triple jumper. He reached 16.57m in 2006. We also want to bring back Rodrigo Mendes to the top form that took him to the NCAA title in 2005.”
“After them we have young athletes who have reached finals in World Junior Championships, such as Leonardo Elisiário dos Santos, and those from Beijing, Hílton da Silva and Luíz Felipe da Silva. I might be missing someone else, but I believe we have great potential, and we should be hopeful of our near future,” ended Moura.
Eduardo Biscayart for the IAAF
Brazil’s all-time Top-10 at the Triple Jump
17.89A João Carlos de Oliveira/1975
17.73 Jadel Gregório/2005
17.32 Anísio Souza Silva/1993
17.27A Nélson Prudêncio/1968
17.22 Jefferson Dias Sabino/2006
17.20A Jorge Luís Teixeira da Silva/1992
17.04A Abcélvio Rodrigues/1989
17.00 Rodrigo Gonçalves Mendes/2005
16.99A Messias José Baptista/1996
16.95 Francisco Albino dos Santos/1985
Medals won by Brazil at Olympic Games and IAAF World Championships
At Olympic Games:
Gold: Adhemar Ferreira da Silva (Helsinki ’52, Melbourne ’56);
Silver: None; Bronze: Nélson Prudêncio (Mexico ’68, Munich ’72), João Carlos de Oliveira (Montreal ’76, Moscow ’80).
At IAAF World Championships: None.
