Cristine Spataru, of Romania, won the triple jump title at the 3rd IAAF World Youth Championships here in dominant fashion, eclipsing all her opponents with the four best jumps of the competition, including a gasp-inducing championship record 13.86 metres in the fourth round.
With a combination of Spataru's stunning opening round 13.33m jump and the gusting winds - with the girls being asked to compete mainly into the wind - the Romanian's rivals appeared awed by her dominance despite the tricky conditions.
Not until the fifth round did Aliki-Yvoni Askitopoulou manage to register the competition's first 12.90-plus jump by a woman other than Spataru: the Greek's personal best 12.93 promoted her ahead of Brittany Daniels, of the United States. The American, in second place until then with 12.83, was unable to improve her best effort and would eventually place fifth.
Finally, with Spataru sitting out the last two rounds confident in her primacy, the remaining finalists began to raise their performances. First, Italy's Vanessa Alessiani, with her sixth-round 12.91, believed that her PB had won her the bronze medal - it would have made a perfect 17th birthday present for the Italian.
However, Finland's Elina Sorsa, with a 12.95 last-round effort, then snatched the silver in a remarkably topsy-turvy competition, putting Askitopoulou into third place and Alessiani out of the medals.
Spataru's winning mark was 4cm better than that recorded by Mabel Gay, from Cuba, the first World Youth triple jump champion in Bydgoszcz four years ago.
