BEIJING, (Reuters) – Colombia’s Caterine Ibarguen extended her unbeaten streak to 29 finals yesterday as she retained her women’s triple jump world title after dominating the event.
The 31-year-old has reigned supreme since her last defeat, when she took the silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
Ibarguen led from the second round and her fourth-round effort of 14.90 metres secured the title emphatically.
The silver medal was won by Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko, who set an Israeli national record with her 14.78m second-round effort.
Olga Rypakova, Kazakhstan’s Olympic champion, snatched the bronze medal in the final round, as she stretched out to a season’s best 14.77m.
Ibarguen enchanted the packed crowd on the far side of the Bird’s Nest Stadium, the colourful character engaging the fans as she relaxed into her task once she outjumped Knyazyeva-Minenko’s best effort with 14.80 to take the lead in the second round.
The Bird’s Nest’s fast track surface had caused the men long jumpers problems in measuring run-ups in the morning session and, while there were no such problems for the women jumpers, some struggled to control their approach speed into horizontal distance.