THE ILL-TIMED ACHILLES tendon injury back in April to Venezuela’s Tokyo ’21 gold medalist, 4-time world champion and WR-holder Yulimar Rojas opened the door to the rest of the world and it was Dominica’s ’24 World Indoor winner Thea LaFond who stepped through it first.
The one-time Maryland multi-eventer, whose collegiate peak came when she tied for 5th in the ’15 NCAA Indoor high jump, not only took the TJ gold with her second-round 49-3½ (15.02) but also made Olympic history as the first-ever medalist in any sport from her mountainous Caribbean island.
Leyanis Pérez, 3rd at the ’23 Worlds and the pre-Paris world leader at 49-1 (14.96), led after the first round with 47-11¾ (14.62). However, the Cuban couldn’t go any further and was soon to slip down the standings.
All the medal-winning efforts came in the next stanza before the rain started to pour down.
Olympic Trials winner Jasmine Moore, jumping second in the rotation, bounded out to 48-1¾ (14.67), the best by a U.S. jumper in ’24, to briefly take the lead.
Two jumps later, LaFond produced her massive world-lead and winning mark of 49-3½ — with video replays showing she had 6.5cm (3 inches) to spare on the board — to add one centimeter to her NR.
Then with the penultimate jump of the round, Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts cut the sand at 48-9¾ (14.87) which would eventually suffice for the silver medal.
And that was it.
With the Stade de France suffering a sudden deluge rendered the runway slippery as the rain blew in under the roof, none of the three medalists could improve although Liadagmis Povea reached 48-½ (14.64) in the fifth round to give Moore — the first U.S. woman TJ medalist at the Olympics — a few nervous moments before the Cuban’s distance was confirmed as being inferior to that of the former Florida Gator.
“It is absolutely beyond my wildest dreams,” said LaFond, 30. “We always said it takes one jump. Second jump at the World Indoor Championships was the big one. Second jump outdoors at the Olympics was the big one, that’s what it took.
“The rain was kind of in my favor, it came down as soon as I was done with that second jump — thank you, God, for working with me.”
Keturah Orji jumped 46-2¾ (14.09) in qualifying to progress but couldn’t match that in the final. Her third round 46-1¼ (14.05) left her down in 9th and wasn’t sufficient to make the cut.
Tori Franklin’s 46-0 (14.02) in qualifying saw her finish 14th overall, a tantalizing 3 cm short of the final.
WOMEN’S TJ RESULTS
FINAL (August 03)
(temperature 75-68F/23-20C; humidity 62-70%; rain)
1. Thea LaFond (Dom) 49-3½ (15.02) (WL)
(46-11¾, 49-3½, 47-5¼, 46-4, 47-4¼, p) (14.32, 15.02, 14.46, 14.12, 14.43, p);
2. Shanieka Ricketts (Jam) 48-9½ (14.87)
(47-11¼, 48-9½, f, f, f, 48-4) (14.61, 14.87, f, f, f, 14.73);
3. Jasmine Moore (US) 48-1¾ (14.67)
(f, 48-1¾, f, 46-5½, f, f) (f, 14.67, f, 14.16, f, f);
4. Liadagmis Povea (Cub) 48-½ (14.64)
(46-10¼, f, 47-2½, 46-9, 48-½, 47-9¼) (14.28, f, 14.39, 14.25, 14.64, 14.56);
5. Leyanis Pérez (Cub) 47-11¾ (14.62)
(47-11¾, 46-4, 47-7, 47-1¾, 47-3¾, f) (14.62, 14.12, 14.50, 14.37, 14.42, f);
6. Ana Peleteiro-Compaoré (Spa) 47-10½ (14.59)
(47-9, 45-½, 47-7¾, 47-10½, 46-9½, 46-11½) (14.55, 13.73, 14.52, 14.59, 14.26, 14.31);
7. Ackelia Smith (Jam) 47-3¾ (14.42)
(45-6½, f, 46-5¼, 45-5¾, 45-7¾, 47-3¾) (13.88, f, 14.15, 13.86, 13.91, 14.42);
8. Dariya Derkach (Ita) 46-4¾ (14.14)
(46-4¾, 46-2½, 45-3, f, f, 45-3) (14.14, 14.08, 13.79, f, f, 13.79);
9. Keturah Orji (US) 46-1¼ (14.05)
(45-10, f, 46-1¼) (13.97, f, 14.05);
10. Elena Andreea Taloș (Rom) 46-½ (14.03)
(f, f, 46-½) (f, f, 14.03);
11. Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk (Ukr) 45-10½ (13.98)
(f, f, 45-10½) (f, f, 13.98);
12. Ilionis Guillaume (Fra) 45-2½ (13.78)
(f, 45-2½, f) (f, 13.78, f).
| * = progression of the leading jump; ¶ = athlete’s best of the day | |||
| first 3 rounds | |||
| Peleteiro-Compaoré | 14.55* | 13.73 | 14.52 |
| Moore | f | 14.67*¶ | f |
| Povea | 14.28 | f | 14.39 |
| LaFond | 14.32 | 15.02*¶ | 14.46 |
| Smith | 13.88 | f | 14.15 |
| Taloș | f | f | 14.03¶ |
| Guillaume | f | 13.78¶ | f |
| Orji | 13.97 | f | 14.05¶ |
| Bekh-Romanchuk | f | f | 13.98¶ |
| Derkach | 14.14¶ | 14.08 | 13.79 |
| Ricketts | 14.61* | 14.87 | f |
| Pérez | 14.62* | 14.12 | 14.50 |
| rounds 4 & 5 | |||
| Derkach | f | f | |
| Smith | 13.86 | 13.91 | |
| Povea | 14.25 | 14.64¶ | |
| Peleteiro-Compaoré | 14.59¶ | 14.26 | |
| Pérez | 14.37 | 14.42 | |
| Moore | 14.16 | f | |
| Ricketts | f | f | |
| LaFond | 14.12 | 14.43 | |
| last round | |||
| Derkach | 13.79 | ||
| Smith | 14.42¶ | ||
| Peleteiro-Compaoré | 14.31 | ||
| Pérez | f | ||
| Povea | 14.56 | ||
| Moore | f | ||
| Ricketts | 14.73 | ||
| LaFond | p | ||
QUALIFYING (August 02; auto-qualifier 47-1/14.35)
Qualifiers: Pérez 48-2 (14.68), Ricketts 47-5¾ (14.47), Moore 47-4¼ (14.43), Povea 47-2½ (14.39), Peleteiro-Compaoré 47-1½ (14.36), Derkach 47-1 (14.35), LaFond 47-1 (14.35), Bekh-Romanchuk 46-11 (14.30), Taloș 46-8¼ (14.23), Smith 46-2¾ (14.09), Orji 46-2¾ (14.09), Guillaume 46-1¼ (14.05);
Non-qualifiers: Diana Ana Maria Ion (Rom) 46-½ (14.03), Tori Franklin (US) 46-0 (14.02), Charisma Taylor (Bah) 45-11¾ (14.01), Tuğba Danişmaz (Tur) 45-10 (13.97), Saly Sarr (Sen) 45-9¾ (13.96), Neja Filipič (Slo) 45-5¼ (13.85), Maja Åskag (Swe) 45-3 (13.79), Kim Williams (Jam) 45-2¼ (13.77), Gabriela Petrova (Bul) 45-2¼ (13.77), Rūta Kate Lasmane (Lat) 45-1¾ (13.76), Sharifa Davronova (Uzb) 45-1 (13.74), Rui Zeng (Chn) 44-11 (13.69), Dovilė Kilty (Lit) 44-9 (13.64), Gabriele dos Santos (Bra) 44-8¾ (13.63), Ottavia Cestonaro (Ita) 44-8¾ (13.63), Mariko Morimoto (Jpn) 43-11¾ (13.40), Olha Korsun (Ukr) 42-10¼ (13.06), Diana Zagainova (Lit) 42-2¼ (12.86).