The triple jump at Saturday’s Prefontaine Classic saw two world leading jumps and a meet record fall as the No. 1 ranked jumper in the world, Caterine Ibarguen, extended her 24-meet winning streak in dramatic fashion over No. 2 Yekaterina Koneva and No. 3 Olha Saladuhka.
With the Hayward Field faithful behind her, Ibarguen soared 49 feet, 9 3/4 inches (15.18 meters) on her last jump to win her 24th straight meet, breaking Koneva’s meet record and world leading distance – which she had jumped maybe 20 minutes earlier.
Koneva, who won gold at last year’s World Indoor Championships and was competing in the U.S. for the first time, put Ibarguen under pressure immediately as she bounded a world-leading 49-4 (15.04 meters) on her second attempt.
Ibarguen danced below the 15-meter mark on her first four attempts, but sprung for 49-3 (15.01 meters) on her fifth, forcing the world’s best triple jumper to a sixth attempt.
Ukraine’s Saladukha couldn’t pass the 14.5-meter barrier, but finished third with a jump of 47-6 1/4 (14.48m).
Ibarguen’s win pushed her leading Diamond Race point total up to 8. Saladukha is second with 3 points, while Koneva ranks third with 2.
