Triple jump

Athletics Triple jump
Former world record holder Willie Banks.
Men's records
World	Jonathan Edwards 18.29 m (60 ft 0 in) (1995)
Olympic	Kenny Harrison 18.09 m (59 ft 4 in) (1996)
Women's records
World	Inessa Kravets 15.50 m (50 ft 10 in) (1995)
Olympic	Françoise Mbango 15.39 m (50 ft 53⁄4 in) (2008)

The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump. The competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit. The triple jump was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games and has been a modern Olympics event since the Games' inception in 1896.
According to IAAF rules, "the hop shall be made so that an athlete lands first on the same foot as that from which he has taken off; in the step he shall land on the other foot, from which, subsequently, the jump is performed." ^[1]
The current male and female world record holders are Jonathan Edwards of Great Britain, with a jump of 18.29 m (60 ft 0 in), and Inessa Kravets of Ukraine, with a jump of 15.50 m (50 ft 10 in). Both records were set during 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg.

History

Historical sources on the ancient Olympic Games occasionally mention jumps of 15 meters or more. This led sports historians to conclude that these must have been a series of jumps, thus providing the basis for the triple jump.^[2] However, there is no evidence for the triple jump being included in the ancient Olympic Games, and it is possible that the recorded extraordinary distances are due to artistic license of the authors of victory poems, rather than attempts to report accurate results.^[3]
The triple jump was a part of the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens, although at the time it consisted of two hops on the same foot and then a jump. In fact, the first modern Olympic champion, James Connolly, was a triple jumper. Early Olympics also included the standing triple jump, although this has since been removed from the Olympic program and is rarely performed in competition today. The women's triple jump was introduced into the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.^[4]
In Irish mythology the geal-ruith (triple jump), was an event contested in the ancient Irish Tailteann Games as early as 1829 BC.^[5]

Technique

The athlete sprints down a runway to a takeoff mark, from which the triple jump is measured. The takeoff mark is commonly a physical piece of wood or similar material embedded in the runway, or a rectangle painted on the runway surface. In modern championships a strip of plasticine, tape, or modeling clay is attached to the far edge of the board to record athletes overstepping or "scratching" the mark, defined by the trailing edge of the board. There are three phases of the triple jump: the "hop" phase, the "bound" or "step" phase, and the "jump" phase. These three phases are executed in one continuous sequence.

Phases of Phillips Idowu jumping at the 2008 Summer Olympics

The hop starts with the athlete jumping from the take off board on one leg, which for descriptive purposes will be the right leg . The objective of the first phase is to hop out, focusing all momentum forward. The hop landing phase is very active, involving a powerful backward "pawing" action of the right leg, with the right take-off foot landing heel first on the runway. The hop landing also marks the beginning of the step phase, where the athlete utilises the backward momentum of the right leg to immediately execute a powerful jump forwards and upwards, the left leg assisting the take-off with a powerful hip flexion thrust. This leads to the familiar step-phase mid-air position, with the right take off leg trailing flexed at the knee, and the left leg now leading flexed at the hip and knee. The jumper then holds this position for as long as possible, before extending the knee of the leading left leg and then immediately beginning a powerful backward motion of the whole left leg, again landing on the runway with a powerful pawing action. The step landing forms the beginning of the take-off of the final phase (the jump), where the athlete utilises the backward force from the left leg to take off again. The jump phase is very similar to the long jump although most athletes have lost too much speed by this time to manage a full hitch kick, and most use a hang or sail technique. When landing in the sand-filled pit, the jumper should aim to avoid sitting back on landing, or placing either hand behind the feet. The sand pit usually begins 13m from the take off board for male international competition, or 11m from the board for international female and club-level male competition. Each phase of the triple jump should get progressively higher, and there should be a regular rhythm to the 3 landings.
A "foul", also known as a "scratch," or missed jump, occurs when a jumper oversteps the takeoff mark, misses the pit entirely, does not use the correct foot sequence throughout the phases, or does not perform the attempt in the allotted amount of time (usually about 90 seconds). When a jumper "scratches," the seated official will raise a red flag and the jumper who was "on deck," or up next, prepares to jump.