1968 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Triple Jump (Men)

sport	athletics
discipline	Triple jump
gender	Men
Attendees	34 athletes from 24 countries
Competition location	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Competition phase	October 16, 1968 (qualification) October 17, 1968 (final)
Medalist Viktor Saneyev ( URS )   Nelson Prudêncio ( BRA )   Giuseppe Gentile ( ITA )

The men's triple jump at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City was held on October 16 and 17, 1968 in the Estadio Olímpico Universitario . 34 athletes took part.

Olympic champion was Viktor Saneyev . He won with a new world record in front of the Brazilian Nelson Prudêncio and the Italian Giuseppe Gentile .

Joachim Kugler and Michael Sauer started for the Federal Republic of Germany - officially Germany . Sauer failed in the qualification, Kugler came in eleventh in the final.
The GDR - officially East Germany - was represented by Heinz-Günter Schenk and Klaus Neumann , both of whom were eliminated in the qualification.
Athletes from Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein did not take part.

Existing records

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

Conducting the competition

The athletes competed in a qualifying round on October 17, which was completed in two groups. The twelve best starters qualified for the final. The width of 16.10 m meant the direct qualification for the final on October 18th. In this final, each participant initially had three attempts. The eight best athletes for the first time - and not, as was the case until 1964, six best - athletes were then allowed three more attempts.

Time schedule

October 16, 10:00 a.m .: Qualification

October 17, 3 p.m .: Final

Note: All times are Mexico City local time ( UTC −6)

The qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue.

qualification

Date: October 16, 1968, from 10:00 a.m.

Group A

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	Expanse	annotation
1	Giuseppe Gentile	Italy	x	17.10 m WR	-	17.10 m	WR
2	Phil May	Australia	16.32 m	-	-	16.32 m
3	Șerban Ciochină	Romania	15.93 m	16.07 m	16.21 m	16.21 m
4th	Józef Szmidt	Poland	x	16.19 m	-	16.19 m
5	Michael Sauer	BR Germany	15.61 m	16.02 m	15.84 m	16.02 m
6th	Derek Boosey	Great Britain	15.07 m	15.99 m	16.01 m	16.01 m
7th	Norman Tate	United States	13.43 m	15.84 m	15.83 m	15.84 m
8th	Yukito Muraki	Japan	x	15.37 m	15.83 m	15.83 m
9	Tim Barrett	Bahamas	x	15.06 m	15.79 m	15.79 m
10	Dave Smith	United States	x	x	15.75 m	15.75 m
11	Evangelos Vlasis	Greece	15.47 m	15.52 m	15.71 m	15.71 m
12	Samuel Igun	Nigeria	15.40 m	13.86 m	15.46 m	15.46 m
13	Alexander Solotaryov	Soviet Union	15.41 m	14.72 m	x	15.41 m
14th	Chen Ming-chi	Taiwan	15.29 m	15.04 m	14.76 m	15.29 m
15th	Klaus Neumann	GDR	15.16 m	x	-	15.16 m
16	Zoltán Cziffra	Hungary	15.04 m	x	-	15.04 m

Group B

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	Expanse	annotation
1	Mansour slide	Senegal	16.58 m	-	-	16.58 m
2	Art Walker	United States	16.49 m	-	-	16.49 m
3	Nelson Prudêncio	Brazil	15.79 m	16.46 m	-	16.46 m
4th	Georgi Stojkowski	Bulgaria	15.26 m	x	16.24 m	16.24 m
5	Viktor Saneyev	Soviet Union	16.22 m	-	-	16.22 m
6th	Luis Felipe Areta Sampériz	Spain	15.94 m	16.20 m	-	16.20 m
7th	Joachim Kugler	BR Germany	15.79 m	16.20 m	-	16.20 m
8th	Henrik Kalocsai	Hungary	15.44 m	16.16 m	-	16.16 m
9	Mikalaj Dudkin	Soviet Union	15.81 m	16.15 m	-	16.15 m
10	Jan Jaskólski	Poland	15.88 m	15.83 m	16.04 m	16.04 m
11	Pertti Pousi	Finland	x	15.84 m	15.74 m	15.84 m
12	Fred Alsop	Great Britain	12.93 m	15.71 m	15.50 m	15.71 m
13	Johnson Amoah	Ghana	15.65 m	15.28 m	15.65 m	15.65 m
14th	Aşkın Tuna	Turkey	15.65 m	x	15.43 m	15.65 m
15th	Heinz-Günter Schenk	GDR	x	14.72 m	15.61 m	15.61 m
16	Drágán Ivanov	Hungary	15.61 m	x	14.42 m	15.61 m
17th	Lennox Burgher	Jamaica	15.20 m	15.29 m	15.14 m	15.29 m
18th	Hector Serrate	Puerto Rico	15.09 m	15.05 m	14.89 m	15.09 m

final

Gold for Viktor Saneyev from the USSR, shown on a postage stamp

Date: October 17, 1960, 3:00 p.m.

Long leaps were expected in the high mountain air of Mexico City . It already began in the qualification: the Italian Giuseppe Gentile improved the eight-year-old world record of the 1964 Olympic champion Józef Szmidt from Poland from 17.03 m to 17.10 m.

In the final there were four more new world records. In the first round it was Gentile's turn again: he jumped 17.22 m. In second place was the Senegalese Mansur Dia. The Brazilian Nelson Prudêncio took second place in his second attempt with 17.05, third was Wiktor Sanejew, USSR, Józef Szmidt was fourth. The third round brought the next world record. This time it was Saneyev who jumped an inch further than Gentile at the beginning. First place two and three were kept by Gentile and Prudêncio, the US jumper Art Walker had worked his way up to fourth place. In round four, the Australian Phil May moved past Walker into fourth place. The world record number four came in the fifth attempt: Prudêncio improved the mark to 17.27 m. Saneev and Gentile followed in the medal places, while Saneyev's compatriot Mikalaj Dudkin was fourth.

In the last attempt, Viktor Saneyev managed to jump 17.39 m. That meant the Olympic victory and it was again a world record. Nelson Prudêncio and Giuseppe Gentile stayed in second and third place. Art Walker regained fourth place.

The 17-meter mark was jumped a total of eleven times in the triple jump competition. There were five world records in which the record that was valid until the Games was improved by 36 centimeters.

Viktor Saneyev achieved the first Soviet Olympic victory in the triple jump.

Giuseppe Gentile won the first Italian medal in this discipline.

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	4th attempt	5th attempt	6th attempt	Bottom line	annotation
1	Viktor Saneyev	Soviet Union	16.49 m	16.84 m	17.23 m WR	17.02 m	16.81 m	17.39 m WR	17.39 m	WR
2	Nelson Prudêncio	Brazil	16.33 m	17.05 m	16.75 m	x	17.27 m WR	17.15 m	17.27 m
3	Giuseppe Gentile	Italy	17.22 m WR	x	x	x	16.54 m	x	17.22 m
4th	Art Walker	United States	15.43 m	16.45 m	16.77 m	16.48 m	x	17.12 m	17.12 m
5	Mikalaj Dudkin	Soviet Union	16.15 m	16.70 m	16.37 m	16.73 m	17.09 m	16.53 m	17.09 m
6th	Phil May	Australia	15.48 m	16.58 m	16.51 m	17.02 m	x	-	17.02 m
7th	Józef Szmidt	Poland	16.06 m	16.77 m	x	16.66 m	x	16.89 m	16.89 m
8th	Mansour slide	Senegal	16.71 m	16.48 m	15.44 m	16.73 m	16.64 m	15.83 m	16.73 m
9	Georgi Stojkowski	Bulgaria	16.28 m	16.46 m	16.19 m	not in the final of the eight best jumpers			16.46 m
10	Henrik Kalocsai	Hungary	16.45 m	16.39 m	16.20 m				16.45 m
11	Joachim Kugler	BR Germany	12.87 m	x	15.90 m				15.90 m
12	Luis Felipe Areta Sampériz	Spain	15.72 m	15.75 m	14.80 m				15.75 m
13	Șerban Ciochină	Romania	x	x	15.62 m				15.62 m

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede : The History of Olympic Athletics. Volume 2: 1948-1968. 1st edition. Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin 1969, pp. 363-3365

Video

• Viktor Saneev Wins His First Triple Jump Gold Medal - Mexico 1968 Olympics , published July 21, 2013 on youtube.com, accessed November 9, 2017

Web links

• SportsReference triple jump , accessed November 9, 2017
• Official report - summary p. 94f, English / French. (PDF), accessed on November 9, 2017
• Official report of the 1968 Olympic Games p. 528, English / French. (PDF), accessed on November 9, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 Page 556 (Engl.) ( Memento of 29 June 2011 at the Internet Archive ), accessed on November 9, 2017
2. ↑ Official report of the 1968 Olympic Games ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 10, English / French (PDF), accessed on November 9, 2017 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Official Report of the 1968 Olympic Games ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 528, engl./frz. (PDF), accessed on November 9, 2017 
4. ↑ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, p. 364