World Athletics Championships: India's Eldhose Paul finishes ninth in men's triple jump final

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Oregon, July 24: India's triple jumper Eldhose Paul finished ninth in the final of the World Athletics Championships 2022 here on Sunday (July 24). Paul - who became the first Indian to reach the triple jump final in the championships - finished with his best jump of 16.37m in the final round.

Paul had to better his personal best of 16.99m in order to win a medal at the big stage. He touched 16.37m in his first attempt and finished sixth after the first round. In his second attempt, he touched 16.79m.

For him to win a medal, the 25-year-old athlete from Kerala had to cross the 17m mark. However, in his third jump, he could touch an underwhelming 13.86m and went out of contention to finish ninth. Eldhose failed to achieve his best effort on the big stage. In the Federation Cup in April this year, he covered a distance of 16.99m.

India have had some very good long jumpers like Anju Bobby George, TC Yohannan, Reeth Abraham, Mercy Kuttan to the latest sensation M Sreeshankar over the years. Paul is the first triple jumper to put his name among the best athletes in the country.

Paul reached the final with a jump of 16.68m and qualified for the final as the 12th and last man. Portugal's Pedro Pichardo jumped to a distance of 17.16M to top the qualifying rounds and enter the final and clinched the gold medal with a distance of 17.95m.

Hughes Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso clinched the silver medal with a distance of 17.55m. China's Zhu Yaming won the men's triple jump bronze medal after reaching 17.31 meters in the final.

Men's Relay Team Finishes Last

Meanwhile, the Indian Men's 4x400m relay team finished sixth and last in Round 1 of heats with a timing of 3:07.29. Muhammed Anas Yahiya (46.15s), Muhammed Vahiyathodi (46.41s), Naganathan Pandi (46.43s), and Rajesh Ramesh (48.30s) came 12th overall in the heats.