Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts Qualifies for Women’s Triple Jump Final With Stunning First Jump
August 2, 2024, 3:59 PM (GMT-5)
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Jamaican triple jump specialist Shanieka Ricketts qualified for the women’s triple jump final at the Paris Olympics with a stunning first attempt on Friday.
The 2024 Olympics kicked off last week in France, but today marked the first day of track and field events at this year’s games. Track and field’s opening day saw three Jamaicans compete in the preliminaries at the Stade de France for a spot in the finals for the women’s triple jump.
With the athletic event holding an automatic qualifying mark of 14.35m, Ricketts’s first attempt of 14.47m (-0.4m/s) proved more than sufficient to take her to the finals.
The 32-year-old’s qualifying jump was the second-best overall in today’s preliminaries, with Cuban athlete Leyanis Perez-Hernandez qualifying with her 14.68m (0.0m/s) third jump.
Ricketts, who won silver at the 2019 World Championships, has a personal best (PB) of 15.03m (outdoors), which she set last year at the Eugene Diamond League. Additionally, the athlete has an indoor PB of 14.08, which was set in Albuquerque in 2013.
Ricketts will be joined in Saturday’s triple jump final by Jamaican Ackelia Smith, who qualified with 14.09m (-1.3m/s) to finish fifth in her group. Their fellow Jamaican jumper, Kimberly Williams, did not qualify during today’s preliminary rounds.
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