Jordan Diaz in the triple jump at the IAAF World U18 Championships Nairobi 2017 (© Getty Images)
Juan Miguel Echevarria is eight months too old to be eligible for the World U20 Championships but another of Cuba’s up-and-coming horizontal jumping prospects will be competing in Tampere.
Jordan Diaz came to note last summer when he won the World U18 Championships in Nairobi in a world U18 best of 17.30m but the 17-year-old, who doesn’t graduate into the senior ranks until 2021, has since matched – and surpassed – those distances at sea level.
Most recently, Diaz improved his world U18 best to 17.41m in Havana and he has another four competitions in excess of the 17-metre line on his card. Even his ‘worst’ competition in 2018 – a very respectable 16.95m into a -1.3 m/s headwind – would still put him top of the world U20 lists.
His nearest rival should be talented Frenchman Martin Lamou, the European U20 champion. Coached by 2013 world champion Teddy Tamgho, Lamou cleared 16.97m to win the European U20 title in Grosseto last year and threatened the 17-metre barrier during the indoor season with 16.89m at the French Championships.
Italy’s Andrea Dallavalle jumped brilliantly in Grosseto last July to take silver behind Lamou with a national U20 record of 16.87m. The 18-year-old has admittedly been half a metre down on his lifetime best in 2018, although he is still ranked fifth outdoors based on this year’s performances at U20 level with 16.20m.
USA’s Christian Edwards and China’s Zhang Zhanfei also have recent performances in excess of the 16-metre line to their credit but this competition will be all about Diaz who looks poised to win Cuba’s seventh gold medal in the triple jump at the World U20 Championships.
Steven Mills for the IAAF
