The Cuban triple jumper scored her second consecutive victory on the prestigious circuit.
Triathlete Leyanis Perez repeated the history of a week ago, reigning at the Bauhaus Galan Athletics Meeting in Stockholm, the seventh stop of the Diamond League 2024, to establish herself as leader of the circuit with 16 points.
After dominating the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, in the United States, the Pinar del Rio athlete once again commanded respect among the best with a leap of 14.67 metres, enough to relegate Jamaican Shanieka Ricketts (14.40) and Dominican Thea Lafond (14.26) to the role of runners-up.
They swapped positions with respect to what happened in the northern city and remain among Leyanis’ main rivals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, given the regrettable absence of the Venezuelan defending champion Yulimar Rojas.
«The best thing about today was that there was a strong headwind. That «kills» the competition a bit, but at the same time it helps to overcome difficulties and gain experience,» coach Ricardo Ponce told JIT.
The coach added that, in general, he was satisfied with the performance of his student, who achieved a sequence of 14.38-14.57-14.67-x-14.23-14.36.
«Something like this can happen on any stage and she showed that she was able to overcome this setback and show stability in her jumps,» added Ponce, before announcing that the next incursion of the main Cuban triple jumper in the current circuit will take place on 12 July, during the stop in Monaco.
«At the beginning I felt better. Then, in addition to the air against me, I started to feel a bit cold for my taste… although I think that, despite that, I could have jumped a bit better,» said Leyanis after her most recent success.
The world indoor runner-up agreed with her coach, recognising how important it is to master the adverse environmental conditions in order to have a good competition and win.
The Swedish segment of the ongoing Diamond League hosted the triumph of several world champions and could have been the scene of a new world record for current pole vault star Armand Duplantis.
The local idol wanted to give his fans an unforgettable moment after winning the event with a maximum of 6.00m, but missed three times with the pole at 6.25m from the ground.
Among those who shone on Sunday were American Chase Jackson, who won with 20 metres in the shot put, and Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, who stopped the timers in 22.69 seconds in the 200m event.
The Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchij clocked a winning height of 2.00 metres and the Dutch athlete Femke Bol won the 400m hurdles, albeit with a discreet time of 53.07 seconds.
Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos (47.01), the world champion in 2022, won the men’s 400m hurdles, although without repeating the duel held three days ago in Oslo with the Olympic champion and world record holder, Norway’s Karsten Warholm.
Lithuanian Mykolas Alekna – only 21 years old – has become the main reference in the discus throw. His throw of 68.64m was unreachable and reaffirmed him as the leader in the ranking of the circuit with 24 points.
