Pichardo Still Perfect in 2015 After Rome Win

Published by IAAF on June 4, 2015

Pedro Pablo Pichardo stamped his authority on the triple jump competition from his very first jump and ended up improving both the meeting and stadium records with his winning effort of 17.96m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome on Thursday (4).

The 21-year-old Cuban may not yet have surpassed Jonathan Edwards’ long-standing world record of 18.29m but he did beat one of the Briton’s slightly inferior marks, the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meeting record of 17.60m which had stood since 1998.

Into the bargain, the stadium record – formerly 17.92m and owned by Bulgaria’s Khristo Markov since he won at the 1987 IAAF World Championships – also fell to Pichardo.

Excitement had been building all week that Italy may witness its first 18-metre jump and even if, in the end, it was not to be, it was still an outstanding performance by the world silver medallist and 2012 world junior champion.

This season, Pichardo has strung together four successive victories with stunning winning marks of 17.94m, 18.06m, 18.08m and 17.96m. No other athlete has ever had more than two competitions beyond 17.94m in the same season aside from Jonathan Edwards in 1995 and 1998.