Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's triple jump

The men's triple jump event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 45 competitors, with 43 athletes from 31 nations starting in two qualifying groups (43 jumpers) before the final (12) took place on Saturday September 24, 1988. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Khristo Markov of Bulgaria, the nation's first medal and victory in the men's triple jump. Igor Lapshin and Aleksandr Kovalenko of the Soviet Union took silver and bronze in an event where the Soviets had reached the podium eight consecutive Games before the 1984 boycott.

Background This was the 21st appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1984 Games were sixth-place finisher Willie Banks of the United States, ninth-place finisher Joseph Taiwo of Nigeria, and tenth-place finisher John Herbert of Great Britain. Banks had broken the world record in 1985, but "was no longer at his best in 1988." The favorite was Khristo Markov of Bulgaria, the 1987 World and 1986 European champion. The Soviet team, which had dominated the event before the 1984 boycott, also had three strong contenders.

Algeria, Angola, Belize, Bermuda, Cyprus, Ecuador, Kuwait, Libya, Mozambique, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines each made their first appearance in the event; the Republic of China made its first appearance as Chinese Taipei. The United States competed for the 20th time, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936. In the qualifying round, each jumper received three attempts to reach the qualifying distance of 16.90 metres; if fewer than 12 men did so, the top 12 (including all those tied) would advance. In the final round, each athlete had three jumps; the top eight received an additional three jumps, with the best of the six to count.Official Report, vol. 2, p. 243.

Records Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

Aleksandr Kovalenko broke the Olympic record with his first jump in the final round, at 17.42 metres. This lasted only until Khristo Markov's first jump (Kovalenko jumped sixth, Markov jumped tenth) of 17.61 metres, which held up as the gold medal winning jump and new Olympic record. Kovalenko's second jump (17.40 metres) and Igor Lapshin's sixth jump (17.52 metres) also surpassed the old Olympic record.

Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)

Date Time Round Friday, 23 September 1988 10:10 Qualifying Saturday, 24 September 1988 12:30 Final

Results

Qualifying

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes 1 Igor Lapshin 17.37 — — 17.37 2 Aleksandr Kovalenko 17.24 — — 17.24 3 Oleg Protsenko 17.00 — — 17.00 4 Khristo Markov 16.49 16.91 — 16.91 5 Jacek Pastusiński 16.66 — — 16.66 6 Ivan Slanar 16.59 16.45 — 16.59 7 Willie Banks 16.57 — — 16.57 8 Norbert Elliott 16.43 16.33 X 16.43 9 Joseph Taiwo 16.42 16.24 16.34 16.42 10 Charles Simpkins 16.00 16.27 16.35 16.35 11 Didier Falise 16.19 X 16.35 16.35 12 Norifumi Yamashita 16.27 X 16.29 16.29 13 Vernon Samuels 15.85 16.28 16.07 16.28 14 Chen Yanping X 16.25 X 16.25 15 Andrzej Grabarczyk 16.18 16.24 16.24 16.24 16 John Herbert 16.01 16.17 16.18 16.18 17 Francis Dodoo 15.79 X 16.17 16.17 18 Edrick Floreal 16.11 X 14.57 16.11 19 George Wright 15.26 X 16.09 16.09 20 Patterson Johnson 15.85 16.03 X 16.03 21 Marios Hadjiandreou 15.89 15.95 X 15.95 22 Jorge da Silva 15.95 15.63 15.87 15.95 23 Jonathan Edwards 13.66 15.66 15.88 15.88 24 Park Young-Jun 15.79 15.79 15.86 15.86 25 José Quiñaliza 15.57 15.86 15.55 15.86 26 Frank Rutherford X 15.42 15.84 15.84 27 Nai Hui-Fang 15.74 15.42 15.49 15.74 28 Abdul Marzouk Al-Yoha 15.62 15.72 15.60 15.72 29 Robert Cannon 14.33 15.69 X 15.69 30 Lotfi Khaïda 15.40 14.07 15.68 15.68 31 José Leitão 15.51 15.60 15.47 15.60 32 Ricardo Valiente X 15.54 15.59 15.59 33 Ernesto Torres 15.44 15.35 15.59 15.59 34 Brian Wellman 15.07 15.31 15.47 15.47 35 Abcelvio Rodrigues 15.13 14.77 14.74 15.13 36 Fathi Aboud 15.13 — — 15.13 37 Haider Ali Shah 14.88 14.57 X 14.88 38 Lennox Adams 14.44 14.73 14.68 14.73 39 Paulo Noronha 14.71 14.35 14.07 14.71 40 Devon Hyde 13.59 — 14.09 14.09 41 Toyi Simklina X 13.92 X 13.92 — António dos Santos X — — No mark Milan Mikulas X — — No mark — James Browne Béla Bakosi

Final

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes Khristo Markov 17.61 X 15.71 17.54 X 17.10 17.61 Igor Lapshin 16.75 17.09 X X X 17.52 17.52 Aleksandr Kovalenko 17.42 17.40 X X — X 17.42 4 Oleg Protsenko 17.38 X X 17.31 X 16.61 17.38 5 Charles Simpkins 16.62 X X — X 17.29 17.29 6 Willie Banks X 17.03 16.90 — 16.86 X 17.03 7 Ivan Slanař 16.58 16.75 16.59 X X 16.24 16.75 8 Jacek Pastusiński 16.72 X X X 16.50 16.56 16.72 9 Joseph Taiwo X 16.46 16.27 Did not advance 16.46 10 Norbert Elliott 16.19 X 16.08 Did not advance 16.19 11 Didier Falise 16.06 X 16.17 Did not advance 16.17 12 Norifumi Yamashita 15.62 X X Did not advance 15.62

See also 1984 Men's Olympic Triple Jump (Los Angeles) 1986 Men's European Championships Triple Jump (Stuttgart) 1987 Men's World Championships Triple Jump (Rome) 1990 Men's European Championships Triple Jump (Split) 1991 Men's World Championships Triple Jump (Tokyo) 1992 Men's Olympic Triple Jump (Barcelona)

References

External links Official Report