#Jumping60: After Another World Title, Christian Taylor Going to Mountains of France to Try to Break Jonathan Edwards’ World Record
by LetsRun.com
August 10, 2017
LONDON — In Thursday’s men’s triple jump final at the 2017 IAAF World Championships, Christian Taylor won a tight battle over his rival and former college teammate Will Claye, 17.68m to 17.63m. That gives Taylor one more Olympic title and one more world title than Great Britain’s Jonathan Edwards.
The reason we mentioned Edwards’ name is because he’s got the world and championship record of 18.29m (60 feet, 1/4 inch) set at the 1995 World Champs, and that is the one thing Taylor really wants.
Taylor said he was pleased to win and it’s always a tough battle with Claye, but he wanted more. “I’m a bit disappointed to be completely honest. I want to be the best ever and now every time the triple jump is announced, whether it’s the championship or the world record, it’s going to be Jonathan (Edwards) and that does hurt me a little bit.”
Christian Taylor World Champs Title #3
Taylor said he would have loved to take Edwards’ record away from him on British soil but since it didn’t happen the plan is for Taylor and Claye to try to break it at a high-altitude meet in the mountains of France. Like the ballyhooed Breaking2 sub-2-hour marathon distance attempt by Eliud Kipchoge, the date of the triple jump/long jump meet will be determined by the weather. It will either be on August 16th or August 17th.
When asked by LRC if a world record in the triple jump at altitude should come with an asterisk, Taylor said that was fine with him. All he wants to do is jump farther than Jonathan Edwards.
“If there’s an asterisk, I’ll take it. I just want to jump farther than him. That’s it. I’m not greedy. I’m not picky. Asterisk, whatever. I’ll take it. I’ll just take it,” he said.
Video with Taylor below.
And if you have never seen the two greatest back-to-back jumps ever in the triple jump, watch the video below. At the 1995 Worlds, Edwards broke the world record on his first attempt and broke it again on his second. His second jump remains the only 60-foot jump in history.
Results from 2017 Worlds:
| POS | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | WIND | DETAIL | ATTEMPT 1 | ATTEMPT 2 | ATTEMPT 3 | ATTEMPT 4 | ATTEMPT 5 | ATTEMPT 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1441 | Christian TAYLOR |  USA |
17.68 | +0.2 | 16.97+0.2 | 17.57+0.2 | 17.68+0.2 | 17.260.0 | 17.38+0.4 | 17.03+0.1 | |
| 2 | 1384 | Will CLAYE | USA |
17.63 | -0.1 | 17.54+0.2 | 17.52+0.6 | 17.63-0.1 | 17.49+0.4 | 17.53+0.2 | X+0.1 | |
| 3 | 1258 | Nelson ÉVORA |  POR |
17.19 | -0.1 | 17.02+0.7 | 17.19-0.1 | 16.58+0.1 | X+0.2 | X-0.2 | 16.01+0.1 | |
| 4 | 817 | Cristian NÁPOLES |  CUB |
17.16 | -0.1 | X+0.2 | X-0.3 | 17.16-0.1 | X+0.1 | X-0.1 | 17.16+0.2 | |
| 5 | 661 | Alexis COPELLO |  AZE |
17.16 | +0.2 | SB | 17.16+0.2 | X+0.4 | X+0.1 | 16.870.0 | 16.910.0 | 17.06+0.1 |
| 6 | 1377 | Chris BENARD | USA |
17.16 | +0.2 | 16.88-0.4 | X+0.6 | 16.94+0.3 | X0.0 | X0.0 | 17.16+0.2 | |
| 7 | 809 | Andy DÍAZ | CUB |
17.13 | +0.2 | 17.13+0.2 | X+0.1 | X-0.2 | X+0.1 | – | X+0.4 | |
| 8 | 940 | Jean-Marc PONTVIANNE |  FRA |
16.79 | +0.1 | X+0.3 | 16.62+0.5 | 16.79+0.1 | X+0.2 | X-0.2 | 16.57+0.2 | |
| 9 | 782 | Ruiting WU |  CHN |
16.66 | +0.7 | 16.47+0.4 | 16.66+0.7 | 16.530.0 | ||||
| 10 | 879 | Pablo TORRIJOS |  ESP |
16.60 | +0.2 | 16.60+0.2 | 16.51+0.7 | 16.53+0.2 | ||||
| 11 | 842 | Yordanys DURANONA |  DMA |
16.42 | -0.2 | 16.42-0.2 | X+0.4 | X+0.1 | ||||
| 12 | 814 | Lázaro MARTÍNEZ | CUB |
16.25 | +0.6 | X+0.3 | 16.25+0.6 | 16.09+0.4 |