Similar to the long jump, the triple jump involves the competitor running down the track at full pelt and performing a hop, a step and a jump before leaping in the air and travelling as far as they can before landing in the sandpit.

Triple jump event

Athletics jump

The technique

Triple jump event 2

Triple jumping requires a high level of strength in the legs; you also have to be light on your feet as it is crucial that forward momentum and speed are maintained along with a high centre of gravity.

The hardest element of the triple jump is the second phase when an athlete is still travelling very fast and has to switch from a hop to a step. Maintaining balance during this is very difficult and also very jarring on the ankles, which are perennially sore. Britain has had at least one world-class triple jumper throughout the last 30 years, and currently Phillips Idowu is our leading male athlete. Preceding him as Britain’s best was Jonathan Edwards, who developed a technique that can best be described as a pebble skimming across the water.

Statistics

  • Britain's Jonathan Edwards holds the men's world record with a jump of 18.29m – and no one else has come close since.

  • The women's world record is currently held by Ukrainian athlete Inessa Kravets, with a distance of 15.5m.

athletics key facts

Key facts

  • The runway is at least 40m long.

  • The event's original name was hop, step and jump.

  • The triple jump has been part of the Olympic Games since 1896.

  • The women's event only became part of the Olympic programme in 1996.

running feet

Rules

  • A foul is committed if the athlete’s take-off foot lands in front of the take-off board.

  • Jumps are measured from the nearest impression made in the sand pit.

  • Each athlete must perform a hop, step and a jump – two hops and a jump or two steps and a jump are not allowed.