Andy Diaz Hernandez exploded to the fourth longest jump in history to win the men’s triple jump at the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships on Saturday.
The Italian uncorked a stupendous 18.15m (1.7m/s) in the second round which was plenty enough to win his first major outdoor title.
World champion Pedro Pichardo was second with 17.76m (0.8m/s) and Andrea Dallavelle made it a second Italian medal with 17.37m (0.9m/s).
In summary
- Diaz Hernandez adds European title to world indoor and European indoor crowns
- Pichardo settles for silver and second consecutive European Athletics Championships
- Dallavelle wins bronze after excellent opening round
The competition opened with Pichardo setting a season’s best of 17.76m and Dallavalle only 6cm down on his best distance of the year with 17.37m.
Diaz Hernandez looked to have landed a huge first jump. It was a marginal foul, but it already looked like he had some real distance in his legs. And so, it proved it round two a superb 18.15m, which was a world lead, a national record.
It also put him fourth on the all-time list behind Jonathan Edwards’ world record 18.29m, Christian Taylor’s 18.21m and Jordan A. Díaz Fortun’s winning distance of 18.18m two years ago at Roma 2024.
Diaz Hernandez underlined his dominance with a third round 17.78m, but it was the last significant action as the medals were set.
What they said...
Pedro Pichardo: "I think I had a pretty good first jump, and to see it was a season best means a lot. However, I am also a little sad, as I think I could have done a little better and push for that gold.
"I would have loved to add a European title to my tally, but it didn't quite work out today. I gave it my everything and I guess this was the maximal possible result for me today.
"From this event onwards, I will continue to push and try to achieve good results for Portugal at the highest level. Step by step, I will get towards the gold medals - the ones that I want and love - again."