Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's triple jump

The men's triple jump competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico took place on October 16–17.[1] Thirty-four athletes from 24 nations competed.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Viktor Saneyev of the Soviet Union, the first time the nation had won gold in the event (though the fifth consecutive Games in which the Soviets had won at least one medal). Saneyev began a decade of dominating the Olympic triple jump; he would win again in 1972 and 1976 as well as taking silver in 1980. Nelson Prudêncio's silver was Brazil's first medal in the event since 1956; Giuseppe Gentile's bronze was Italy's first men's triple jump medal ever.

Men's triple jump
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Viktor Saneyev (1972)
VenueEstadio Olímpico Universitario
DatesOctober 16–17
Competitors34 from 24 nations
Winning distance17.39 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Viktor Saneyev
 Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Nelson Prudêncio
 Brazil
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Giuseppe Gentile
 Italy
← 1964
1972 →

Summary

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With the best athletes jumping at high altitude in the Olympics, the world record was set multiple times. Prior to the event, Józef Szmidt had held the world record for eight years and also held the Olympic record since the previous Olympics.

The world and Olympic record were smashed in the qualifying round by Giuseppe Gentile, with a 17.10 on his second attempt (after fouling the first).

The following day in the final, Gentile improved upon his record in the first round, jumping 17.22. In the third round, Viktor Saneyev improved upon the record by one centimeter. In the fifth round Nelson Prudêncio took the lead and the record. On his last attempt, Saneyev hit the winner and new record of 17.39 m (57 ft 12 in).

The record lasted for three years until it was improved upon by Pedro Pérez. One year later, Saneyev brought the record with a 17.44 that lasted 3 years. In 1975 in this same stadium, João Carlos de Oliveira made a .45 m (1 ft 5+12 in) "beamonesque" improvement to the record that held for almost 10 years. The record was brought down to sea level by Willie Banks in 1985.[3]

During the competition, five men exceeded the previous world record though Nikolay Dudkin's jumps were wind aided. Phil May and Szmidt jumped further than his Olympic record in sixth and seventh place respectively.

Background

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This was the 16th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1964 Games were gold medalist Józef Szmidt of Poland, bronze medalist Vitold Kreyer of the Soviet Union, fourth-place finisher Ira Davis of the United States, seventh-place finisher Manfred Hinze of the United Team of Germany, ninth-place finisher Ian Tomlinson of Australia, and twelfth-place finisher Fred Alsop of Great Britain. Szmidt had won the European championship again in 1962 and would have been the favorite but for a recent knee surgery that made his ability to repeat questionable.[2]

The Bahamas, Hong Kong, Madagascar, Romania, and Senegal each made their first appearance in the event. The United States competed for the 16th time, having competed at each of the Games so far.

Competition format

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The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. In qualification, each athlete jumped three times. At least the top twelve athletes moved on to the final; if more than twelve reached the qualifying distance of 16.10 metres, all who did so advanced. Distances were reset for the final round. Finalists jumped three times, after which the eight best jumped three more times (with the best distance of the six jumps counted).[4][2]

Records

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

World record   Józef Szmidt (POL) 17.03 Olsztyn, Poland 5 August 1960
Olympic record   Józef Szmidt (POL) 16.85 Tokyo, Japan 16 October 1964

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date Event Athlete Time OR WR
16 October Qualifying   Giuseppe Gentile (ITA) 17.10 m (56 ft 1 in) OR WR
17 October Final   Giuseppe Gentile (ITA) 17.22 m (56 ft 5+34 in) OR WR
17 October Final   Viktor Saneyev (URS) 17.23 m (56 ft 6+14 in) OR WR
17 October Final   Nélson Prudêncio (BRA) 17.27 m (56 ft 7+34 in) OR WR
17 October Final   Viktor Saneyev (URS) 17.39 m (57 ft 12 in) OR WR

Schedule

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All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 16 October 1968 10:00 Qualifying
Thursday, 17 October 1968 15:00 Final

Results

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Qualifying

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Qual. rule: qualification standard 16.10m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank Group Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 A Giuseppe Gentile   Italy X 17.10 WR 17.10 Q, WR
2 B Mansour Dia   Senegal 16.58 16.58 Q
3 B Art Walker   United States 16.49 16.49 Q
4 B Nelson Prudêncio   Brazil 15.79 16.46 16.46 Q
5 A Phil May   Australia 16.32 16.32 Q
6 B Georgi Stoykovski   Bulgaria 15.26 X 16.24 16.24 Q
7 B Viktor Saneyev   Soviet Union 16.22 16.22 Q
8 A Şerban Ciochină   Romania 15.93 16.07 16.21 16.21 Q
9 B Luis Felipe Areta   Spain 15.94 16.20 16.20 Q
10 B Joachim Kugler   West Germany 15.79 16.20 16.20 Q
11 A Józef Szmidt   Poland X 16.19 16.19 Q
12 B Henrik Kalocsai   Hungary 15.44 16.16 16.16 Q
13 B Nikolay Dudkin   Soviet Union 15.81 16.15 16.15 Q
14 B Jan Jaskólski   Poland 15.79 16.04 16.04
15 A Michael Sauer   West Germany 15.61 16.02 15.84 16.02
16 A Derek Boosey   Great Britain 15.07 15.99 16.01 16.01
17 A Norman Tate   United States 13.43 15.84 15.83 15.84
18 B Pertti Pousi   Finland X 15.84 15.74 15.84
19 A Yukito Muraki   Japan X 15.37 15.83 15.83
20 A Tim Barrett   Bahamas X 15.06 15.79 15.79
21 A Dave Smith   United States X X 15.75 15.75
22 A Evangelos Vlasis   Greece 15.47 15.52 15.71 15.71
23 B Fred Alsop   Great Britain 12.93 15.71 15.50 15.71
24 B Johnson Amoah   Ghana 15.65 15.28 15.65 15.65
25 B Aşkın Tuna   Turkey 15.65 X 15.43 15.65
26 B Heinz-Günter Schenk   East Germany X 14.72 15.61 15.61
27 B Dragán Ivanov   Hungary 15.61 X 14.42 15.61
28 A Samuel Igun   Nigeria 15.40 13.86 15.46 15.46
29 A Aleksandr Zolotarev   Soviet Union 15.41 14.72 X 15.41
30 B Lennox Burgher   Jamaica 15.20 15.29 15.14 15.29
31 A Chen Ming-Chi   Taiwan 15.29 15.04 14.76 15.29
32 A Klaus Neumann   East Germany 15.16 X 15.16
33 B Héctor Serrate   Puerto Rico 15.09 15.05 14.89 15.09
34 A Zoltán Cziffra   Hungary 15.04 X 15.04
A Labh Singh   India DNS

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
  Viktor Saneyev   Soviet Union 16.49 16.84 17.23 WR 17.02 16.81 17.39 WR 17.39 WR
  Nelson Prudêncio   Brazil 16.33 17.05 16.75 X 17.27 WR 17.15 17.27 AR
  Giuseppe Gentile   Italy 17.22 WR X X X 16.54 X 17.22 AR
4 Art Walker   United States 15.43 16.45 16.77 16.48 X 17.12 17.12 AR
5 Nikolay Dudkin   Soviet Union 16.15 16.70 16.37 16.73 17.09 16.53 17.09 NR
6 Phil May   Australia 15.48 16.58 16.51 17.02 X 17.02 AR
7 Józef Szmidt   Poland 16.06 16.77 X 16.66 X 16.89 16.89
8 Mansour Dia   Senegal 16.71 16.48 15.44 16.73 16.64 15.83 16.73
9 Georgi Stoykovski   Bulgaria 16.28 16.46 16.19 Did not advance 16.46
10 Henrik Kalocsai   Hungary 16.45 16.39 16.20 Did not advance 16.45
11 Joachim Kugler   West Germany 12.87 X 15.90 Did not advance 15.90
12 Luis Felipe Areta   Spain 15.72 15.75 14.80 Did not advance 15.75
13 Şerban Ciochină   Romania X X 15.62 Did not advance 15.62

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's Triple Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Triple Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  3. ^ Mens High Jump at Sports Reference
  4. ^ "Mexico City 1968 high jump men Results - Olympic athletics".
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