Another great competition, this time with valuable monetary prizes in the mix ($30,000 for the winners, $12,000 for the runners-up, $7,000 for third), Another double challenge for Pedro Pablo Pichardo with different contours of those he had found in the last year. On the one hand, and contrary to what happened in the Olympic, World and European Games, the Portuguese had competition with the Cuban army of Lázaro Martínez -winner of the Indoor World Championships- and Jordan Díaz Fortun joining the now Spanish Andy. Díaz Hernández (who was still emerging as a Cuban athlete for the organization, although he already holds the national record for Spain), Hughes Fabrice Zango and Almir dos Santos. On the other hand, as has become customary, the desire to get closer to the world record.
He cleaned the sand, talked to his father, prayed and found the faith to fly: the national record jump that crowned Pichardo Olympic champion
“I think they were closer than they are now. I think the year he was most in danger was probably 2015, when Pichardo and Taylor jumped in the same competition in Doha. Then Taylor jumped 18.21m, in Beijing,” admitted Jonathan Edwards, a Briton who still holds the triple jump world record more than 25 years later, in an interview last week with Tribuna Expresso. “Although he is Portuguese, [Pichardo] It is a very classic Cuban. He has a beautiful rhythm, I would say very energetic, with a great plyometric capacity. He is an exceptional athlete. The only question, if she wants to jump 60 feet, is how fast she can go at horizontal speed. Jumping ability is exceptional, balance and technique are excellent. But if you want to jump 18.30m, you have to be very, very fast”, highlighted.
The best brand of the year to open, the party to close: Pedro Pablo Pichardo is proclaimed triple jump world champion
It is in these details that Pichardo has been designing his training, in an attempt to pass the 18-meter bar that he achieved as a youngest Cuban and that he threatened as a Portuguese in Games (17.98) and World Cups (17.95). “The world record is still missing, we have this debt with ourselves and with the people as well. We are working to achieve it. I’ve been competing a lot, I haven’t had a lot of time to recover and prepare for the competitions, but now I’ll focus on the Diamond League final for two weeks. I think that in these two weeks I will recover better and that is where we will bet”, he highlighted after the calm triumph at the European Championship in Munich, where he did not need to go past 5:50 p.m. to reach gold.
Olimpo, World, Europe: Pedro Pablo Pichardo is proclaimed champion and closes a perfect triple jump trilogy in one year
Thus, after a first day the day before, discussed only in an urban setting, Zürich hosted the second round of finals at the Letzigrund Stadium between triple jump (Pichardo and Patrícia Mamona), javelin (Leandro Ramos) and discus (Liliana Cá), between others, with the jumper trying defend Diamond League titles which he won in 2018 and 2021 after a journey where he was third in Paris (17.49, behind Jordan Díaz Fortun and Andy Díaz Hernández) and second in Silesia (17.29, behind Díaz Hernández).
After the Olympic gold, the Diamond League: Pichardo wins the triple jump grand final in Zurich
The expected competitiveness was immediately demonstrated in the first jump, with Andy Díaz setting the bar at 17.70 (new personal and national record for Spain) and Pichardo standing at seven centimeters with 17.63. In the second round, Jordan Díaz Fortun, who had started with a null, was placed in third position with 17.55, putting the decision between the trio with the Portuguese failing in his attempt (16.88) and Andy Díaz giving up the jump. In the middle of the race, Jordan Díaz Fortun slightly improved his mark to 17.60, Zango gave signs of being able to enter the fight with 17.43, Andy Díaz had a null jump and Pedro Pablo Pichardo again had an attempt to below 17 meters (16.85). ).
For what day @diazdez25 ????????
PB of 17.70 ✔️
First #DiamondLeague title ✔️#ZurichDL????????#DLFinal????
???? @mathewquine pic.twitter.com/vU4xqeLc1R– Wanda Diamond League (@Diamond_League) September 8, 2022
In the reorganization of the athletes, with Pichardo going from last to penultimate in the order, the Portuguese did not need the fourth jump, but nothing changed except Almir dos Santos’ move to fifth place (17.10), taking advantage of another day to forget about Lazaro Martinez (16.75). Another round, another decision postponed, with Andy Diaz and Jordan Diaz Fortun giving up their attempts to go all-in on the last jump and Pichardo making a null. The end was thus awaited with much anticipation, but the Portuguese took such a risk that he ended up taking almost no jump (14.21), finishing second.
The World Champion, Pedro Pablo Pichardo ???????? opens very well with 17.63m (-0.4) to go to 2nd.
– Track & Field Gazette (@Track_Gazette) September 8, 2022
In the women’s sector, and not in vain, the victory went to the Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas, winning with 15.28 well ahead of Ukrainian European champion Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk (14.96) and Jamaican Shanieka Ricketts (14.85). Patrícia Mamona did not get past sixth position in the final with the best time in the last attempt (14.24, after 14.22 from the start), also behind Tori Franklin (14.75) and Thea Lafond (14.56, best time of the year at four centimeters from the personal record).
1⃣5⃣.2⃣8⃣
That second-round effort was enough to @TeamRojas45who defends her #DiamondLeague title!#ZurichDL????????#DLFinal????
???? @mathewquine pic.twitter.com/3L1JSubi0S– Wanda Diamond League (@Diamond_League) September 8, 2022
Source: Observadora
