Yulimar Rojas Shatters South American Record, Inches Closer to Triple Jump World Record
On Friday (6) at the Memorial Francisco Ramon Higueras in Andujar, Spain, Yulimar Rojas etched her name further into the record books with a stunning triple jump performance. The world champion, both outdoors and indoors, soared to an astounding 15.41m (1.5m/s) in the competition’s sixth round, coming within just 9 centimetres of the illustrious 15.50m world record set by Inessa Kravets at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden – two months before Rojas was even born.
After a shaky start with back-to-back fouls in the opening two rounds, the Venezuelan dynamo found her rhythm, bounding to a solid 15.03m (0.3m/s) leap in the third round. This marked the fourth competition this season where Rojas has exceeded the 15-metre mark, cementing her status as the dominant force in women’s triple jump.
Rojas followed up her sizzling third-round effort with a 14.53m jump in the fourth round before passing on her fifth attempt. But it was her final leap that truly captured the imagination, as the 23-year-old sensation propelled herself 30 centimetres beyond her previous best of 15.11m, set just last month at the Pan-American Games. In the process, Rojas also shattered Caterine Ibarguen’s longstanding South American record of 15.31m, set by the Colombian in Monaco in 2014.
Yulimar Rojas’ awe-inspiring performance in Andujar not only reinforces her position as the gold standard in women’s triple jump, but also places her firmly in the conversation among the greatest to ever grace the sport.
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