HEADING INTO THE Olympic Trials, Fairleigh Dickinson senior Salif Mane and Miami’s Russell Robinson, neither of whom projected as a strong bet to make the team, had battled against each other twice in TJ finals this season. Robinson won the NCAA Indoor with Mane 4th, and Mane prevailed in their 1-2 contest at the NCAA Outdoor on the Hayward Field runway in June.
Robinson led qualifying with a second-round jump of 56-2¾ (17.14), while Mane finished 2nd with a clutch jump of 55-8¼ (16.97) in the third round after fouling his first two attempts. No major contenders were eliminated.
Going against an 0.2 wind, Mane, the tenth jumper in the order, took care of the Olympic standard — and the win — in the first round, bounding 56-8½ (17.28), 6cm over the standard, and 5½ inches beyond his previous best of 56-3 (17.14) set at the NCAA.
Robinson, the next jumper in the first round, answered with a jump of 55-3½ (16.85).
It played out as a competition that more resembled a turning of the page. Longtime U.S. stalwarts finished down in the order including greats Will Claye (6th) and Christian Taylor (10th) along with Omar Craddock (4th), Chris Carter (7th) and Chris Benard (9th).
Donald Scott — winner at 4 of the last 5 USATF Outdoor Champs and the only man with the Olympic Q-standard entering the Trials — came through in round 3 with a mark of 55-4¼ (16.87) to move into 2nd ahead of Robinson, who battled back. In round 4 the ’24 Miami senior regained the runner-up position with what turned out to be his best mark of the day, 55-9¾ (17.01).
Mane passed in that frame, then fouled in round 5, before setting yet another remarkable PR of 57-5¾ (17.52) to close out his win. He termed his performance “Amazing!”
Having bounded into June with a PR of 55-1 (16.79), set at altitude in the ‘23 NCAA Indoor, Bronx native Mane, who recently graduated with a civil engineering degree, said of his nearly 2½-foot improvement over less than a month, “I’ve been training for this. I just had to have the right time, and the right place, and that’s how it went.”
With Mane and Scott both holding the Olympic standard, Robinson, the No. 5 American in the WA rankings going into the meet had to hope points accrued in his performance here on the last day of the qualifying period would push him into the Road to Paris top 32. (To Robinson’s certain pleasure, an early-July rankings rewrite boosted him to No. 26 and into eligibility for the Olympics.)
MEN’S TRIPLE JUMP RESULTS
FINAL (June 30)
1. Salif Mane (FD) 57-5¾ (17.52) PR (AL)
(56-8½, 46-½, 56-4½, p, f, 57-5¾) (17.28, 14.03, 17.18, p, f, 17.52);
2. Russell Robinson (Mia) 55-9¾ (17.01)
(55-3½, 54-8¾, 52-6, 55-9¾, f, 55-¼) (16.85, 16.68, 16.00, 17.01, f, 16.77);
3. Donald Scott (adidas) 55-4¼ (16.87)
(f, 54-6½, 55-4¼, f, 54-1, 53-9) (f, 16.62, 16.87, f, 16.48, 16.38);
4. Omar Craddock (AzC) 55-3 (16.84)
(54-1¾, 54-2, 55-3, 54-10¼, 54-6¾, 54-10¾) (16.50, 16.51, 16.84, 16.72, 16.63, 16.73);
5. Sean Dixon-Bodie (Fl) 55-1½ (16.80) PR
(f, 53-8½, 54-8¾, 53-10¼, 53-5, 55-1½) (f, 16.37, 16.68, 16.41, 16.28, 16.80);
6. Will Claye (NYAC) 54-10¾ (16.73)
(53-3½, 53-6½, 54-7½, 53-6½w, 54-10¾, 54-3¾) (16.24, 16.32, 16.65, 16.32w, 16.73, 16.55);
7. Chris Carter (unat) 54-0 (16.46)
(53-1¾, 53-3¾, 54-0w, 52-5¼, 52-1¾, f) (16.20, 16.25, 16.46w, 15.98, 15.89, f);
8. James Carter (unat) 53-11¼ (16.44)
(53-11¼, 52-4½, 53-3½, 53-8¼, 53-7, 52-8¾) (16.44, 15.96, 16.24, 16.36, 16.33, 16.07);
9. Chris Benard (CVE) 53-8¼ (16.36); 10. Christian Taylor (Nike) 53-6½ (16.32); 11. Brandon Green (Ok) 53-4¼ (16.26); 12. Kyvon Tatham (FlSt) 51-3¾ (15.64).
QUALIFYING (June 28)
Qualifiers: Robinson 56-2¾ (17.14) PR, Mane 55-8¼w (16.97), Scott 55-¼ (16.77), J. Carter 54-6 (16.61) PR, Craddock 53-10½w (16.42), Benard 53-7 (16.33), C. Carter 53-5½ (16.29), Green 52-10¾ (16.12), Dixon-Bodie 52-9½ (16.09), Claye 52-9¼ (16.08), Taylor 52-9¼w (16.08), Tatham 52-¾ (15.87);
Non-Qualifiers: Isaiah Griffith (unat) 52-0 (15.85), Alphonso Jordan (unat) 51-9¾ (15.79), Micaylon Moore (Nb) 51-5½ (15.68), Sir Jonathan Sims (Az) 51-2¾ (15.61), Tre Betts (PittSt) 50-11½ (15.53), Jakari Lomax (Young) 50-8¾ (15.46), Chauncey Chambers (unat) 49-11 (15.21), Anthony Applequist (unat) 49-10½ (15.20), Cole Goodman (Roch) 49-8¼ (15.14), Shelvin Garrett (WiW) 49-1¾ (14.98);… 3f—Stacy Brown (TxT).