TOKYO (Reuters) - Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo won the men’s triple jump at the Tokyo Games on Thursday with a leap of 17.98 meters, giving his country its fifth Olympic gold medal.
China’s Zhu Yaming produced a personal best of 17.57m for silver and Hugues Fabrice Zango delivered Burkina Faso’s first Olympic medal after jumping 17.47m to take bronze.
Burkina Faso is the 100th nation to win an Olympic athletics medal.
Pichardo took the lead with his first attempt of 17.61m and no other competitor could match it. His 17.98m jump came on his third attempt and set a national record.
“This was a very good competition, a tough field,” said Pichardo, who started practicing the triple jump when he was only six-years-old. “All the athletes were so strong, so that makes me feel even better about winning the gold medal.”
It was the second-longest winning jump at an Olympics after American Kenny Harrison’s record leap of 18.09m at the 1996 Games.