Triple Jump Betting
The name triple jump comes from the three disciplines that are required to make up the jump - the hop, the skip and the jump and it was first introduced as an Olympic event for men in 1896 and for the women in 1996.
The event requires an athlete to sprint down a runway, which is usually around 40 metres long, before taking off before the wooden foul board which is situated 13 metres away from the pit for men and 11 metres for women. Once the athlete has sprinted down the runway and taken off from their lead foot they will land on the same foot that they took off from to form the hop. The jumper then continues the jump but this time lands on the opposite foot to form the step. Then the jumper takes off again to form the final part of the discipline the jump, where they will finally land in the sandpit.
The Hop, the Skip and the Jump
The athlete's distance is then measured from the front of the foul board to the mark in the sand closest to it. The winner is decided by the athlete who records the furthest singular distance from his or hers group of jumps. If there is a tie for first place, the winner is the athlete with the second-longest jump, and so on. A foul is committed by an athlete not taking off from behind the foul board. If a jump is deemed as a foul jump no distance is recorded.
Outright Winner or Back an Outsider
The main Olympic Triple Jump betting market is the outright winner but with competitors having to qualify for the final, bookmakers also offer a market that may appeal to anybody who wishes to back an outsider - to make the final. Other Olympic triple jump betting markets include, the winning distance, to finish in the medals, the world record to be broken and the straight forecast (predicting 1st and 2nd in the correct order).
At the Olympics each nation is allowed a maximum of three competitors per event and the majority of championships including the Olympics involve six jumps per competitor. The six jumps are made up from three qualifying jumps and then three further jumps for athletes (usually eight depending on the field size) that have made it through to the final.
Jonathan Edwards of Great Britain
We’ve been privileged over the years to have seen some remarkable performances in the triple jump event none more than Great Britain’s Jonathan Edwards, who was the first male athlete to break the 18 metre barrier. Edwards’ jump of 18.29m at the 1995 World Championships set the world alight and was enough to win the Brit his first World Championship title. Edwards then followed this up by claiming gold in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and his second World Championship title in 2001.
Since Edwards’ jump of 18.29m, the only other athlete to break the 18m barrier was the American Kenny Harrison, who recorded a jump of 18.09m at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. This jump still holds a place in the history books for the fact that it’s the longest jump ever recorded with a negative wind reading. If it wasn’t for an injury to Harrison’s knee, the American could have taken Edwards’ title of the best triple jumper the Olympic and World stage has ever seen.
