Overwhelming medal favorites Yulimar Rojas and Shanieka Ricketts will hope to secure passages into the final of the women’s triple jump when they line up in the qualifying round competition on Thursday’s Day One on the track and field schedule at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Click here for the Startlist
What time is the women’s triple jump in Tokyo?
The qualifying round of the women’s triple jump will take place in the evening session in Tokyo on the first day, but fans in the United States will see the action at 6:05 am ET on Friday morning.
Rojas, the two-time world champion in 2017 and 2019, will have her eyes on the long-standing world record of 15.50m, set by Ukraine’s Inessa Kravets in 1995, but she will more than likely save the big efforts for the final and concentrate more on the 14.40m mark for automatic qualification to the final.
READ MORE: Toyko 2020 Olympic Games full track and field schedule and times
The Venezuelan will compete in Group A where she will take on the likes of Jamaican two-time Commonwealth Games champion Kimberly Williams, reigning Olympic champion Caterine Ibargüen of Colombia, London 2012 bronze medalist Olha Saladukha, Spain’s Ana Peleteiro, and American Keturah Orji.
Shanieka Ricketts hopes for easy progress
Meanwhile, Shanieka Ricketts, the second-best jumper in the world this season with a personal-best mark of 14.98m, will compete in Group B of the event.
The Jamaican world silver medalist from Doha 2019 is in the shape of her life, according to her coach and husband, and I am expecting her to do like Rojas and exert as little energy as possible in obtaining the 14.40m automatic qualification mark for the final.
Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan has competed sparingly this season and has only done 13.58m in her lone outdoor performance this term, but she has the experience at major championships, having won the gold medal in the event at London 2012, the silver medal at Beijing 2008, and a bronze medal at Rio 2016.
Cuban Liadagmis Povea, Portugal’s Patricia Mamona, and Núbia Soares of Brazil are also set to compete in Group A.
The qualification round of the women’s triple jump will take place in the evening session of the first day, which is Friday morning USA time.
