ALTHOUGH SHE WAS ONLY No. 3 on the yearly list, Saly Sarr had earned status as at least a minor favorite based on her late-season form. In August she had upped her PR to 49-5¾ (15.08) in winning the Chorzów DL, then 2 weeks later claimed the DL Final at 49-1 (14.96).
The 23-year-old Senegalese, jumping No. 2 in the order, watched Cuba’s Leyanis Pérez open the proceedings at 48-10 (14.88) but instantly responded with an almost-PR 49-5 (15.06).
As it turned out, that would be the farthest jump of the day. The only other 49-footer came from Pérez’s teammate Davisleidis Velazco, with a 49-4¼ (15.04) that came within a fraction of an inch of the lead.
World champion Pérez passed her final go, explaining that she had felt a hamstring tighten and decided it was better to stop than risk a rupture.
The 4th position went to Thea LaFond, the year’s only 50-footer, who was far off form with a sequence of 46-9½, 46-2¾ & 47-5¾ (14.26, 14.09, 14.47).
Said Sarr, “It really means a lot to win and become the Ultimate champion. I am really happy, really emotional and truly satisfied.“We will keep working, keep winning and prepare ourselves for other goals in the future. There’s no holidays, it’s just back to work.”
Said Velazco, “This was a very important competition, an event where the conditions were created for us to produce results like this. It has been a very demanding year for me as I have been working outside of sport in another job while also training, so this result is extremely important to me.”
UC WOMEN’S TRIPLE JUMP RESULTS
(September 13)
1. Saly Sarr (Sen) 49-5 (15.06)
(49-5, f, 48-11½, 48-8) (15.06, f, 14.92, 14.83)
2. Davisleidis L. Velazco (Cub) 49-4¼ (15.04)
(48-8, f, 49-4¼, 47-4½) (14.83, f, 15.04, 14.44)
3. Leyanis Pérez (Cub) 48-10¾ (14.90)
(48-10, 48-10¾, 48-1¼, p) (14.88, 14.90, 14.66, p)
4. Thea LaFond (Dom) 47-5¾ (14.47)
(46-9½, 46-2¾, 47-5¾) (14.26, 14.09, 14.47)
5. Ackelia Smith (Jam) 46-8¼ (14.23)
(44-9¾, 46-6, 46-8¼) (13.66, 14.17, 14.23)
6. Dariya Derkach (Ita) 45-4¼ (13.82)
(45-4¼, f, 44-4¼) (13.82, f, 13.52)
7. Gabriele dos Santos (Bra) 42-10¼ (13.06)
(42-10¼, f) (13.06, f);
… 2f—Liadagmis Povea (Cub).
