Savigne Yargelis loses in triple jump final but still finishes first overall
Savigne Yargelis of Cuba won the triple jump Diamond Trophy after today’s IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels despite not claiming victory in the final itself.
Yargelis went into the final with a four point lead over Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan. There were few situations in which Yargelis could lose the Diamond Trophy in the triple jump, but still it was about as close a finish as it gets.
Rypakova sat comfortably in the lead of the final event, with a jump of 14.80 metres, waiting to see if Olha Saladukha of Ukraine could surpass second place Yargelis’ jump of 14.56 metres. Rupakova entered the final event with 14 points, 4 points behind Yargelis. While the point system usually gives four points to the winner, two to second place, and one point to third, the final doubles those numbers.
With the event victory Rupakova ended the season with 22 points. If Yargelis could hold on to second she would tie Rupakova`s 22 points, and win the triple jump Diamond Trophy due to the tie-breaker rules.
Should two athletes end the season tied in points, the first tie breaker is the number of event wins on the season. Yargelis took a three victory lead over Rupakova into the final. The only way Rupakova could win the Diamond Trophy is if she won the event and Yargelis failed to take second.
Yargelis’ best jump of the day was 14.56 metres. Heading into her final jump, Saladukha’s best jump was 14.38 metres. Saladukha`s best jump ever came in 2008 when she jumped 14.84 metres, but her final jump in Brussels today was only 14.21 metres.
Nadezhda Alekhina of Russia was able to jump 15.14 metres in Cheboksary, Russia last year, but failed to break 14 metres today.
The event in Brussels marks the first annual Diamond League season.
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