Triple Jump Gold Medal Match Trivia Quiz

Answer: James Connolly (USA)

Connolly was a student at Harvard when the Olympics came but the school refused him a leave of absence to compete. He then withdrew from the school, never to return, and ended up winning the gold in the triple jump. He also won a silver in the high jump and bronze in the long jump.

Answer: Myer Prinstein (USA)

Prinstein was born in Poland and was only five years old when the family emigrated to the United States. He had set world records in the long jump in 1899 and 1900 when he was in his early twenties. At Paris, he won the triple jump and the silver in the long jump. In St. Louis, he won both. He was the first person to win both jumps in one Olympic Games.

Answer: Al Joyner Sr. (USA)

Joyner, also known as the husband of Florence Griffith Joyner and brother to heptathlete Jackie Joyner Kersee, won the gold medal in triple jump in 1984, which was his only Olympic appearance. His victory was the first in eighty years (St Louis 1904) in the event for the United States.

Answer: Victor Saneyev (URS)

Saneyev is recognized as one of, if not the premier, triple jumper in history. He has always been a favorite of this quiz author during his twenty years of competing in the event. His record of three consecutive gold medals (1968, 1972 and 1976) is unmatched in the triple jump.

His attempt to tie the legendary discus thrower Al Oerter's record four gold medals barely fell short when he placed second to a fellow Russian in 1980. At Mexico City, which I saw at eight years old because my father was competing in his fourth Olympic Games there, Saneyev broke his own world record twice during the competition.

Answer: Jonathan Edwards (GBR)

Edwards was the first jump 60 ft (18.29m), set at the World Championships in August 1995. He did win the silver medal in the 1996. His losing jump is the longest non-winning in Olympic Games history. However, he beat everyone in the 2000 games. He also has a wind-aided jump in competition of 60ft 5.5 in.

Answer: Christian Taylor (USA)

Taylor brought the United States back to triple jump prominence. Taylor won gold in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. He followed up those victories with a world championship in 2017. He has the second longest leap in history with 59 ft. 8.75 in. (18.21m) set in Beijing in the 2015 World Championship, a mere 3.25 inches short of Jonathan Edwards historic 60.0 ft jump (18.29m) in August 1995.

Answer: Kenny Harrison (USA)

While Harrison was favored in the 1992 Olympics, a knee injury prevented him from competing. He recovered well and won gold with an American and Olympic record of 18.09m (59 ft. 4 in.) - the world record was held by Jonathan Edwards (GBR) at 18.29m, set in August 1995. He was inducted into the United States Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2013.

Answer: Naoto Tajima (JPN)

Tajima was the third Japanese man in a row to win the Olympic triple jump, following Mikio Oda in 1928 and Chuhei Nambu. Tajima also won bronze in the long jump in 1936, not far behind Jesse Owens. In the triple jump, he broke the world record with a jump of 16.00 meters which stood until 1951. A Japanese track athlete didn't win a gold medal again until the 2000 games.

Answer: Jozef Szmidt (POL)

Szmidt is one of the few triple jumpers to have back to back gold medals in the Olympics. In 1960, he became the first jumper to surpass 17m. He was also European Champion in 1958 and 1962.

Answer: Adhemar da Silva (BRA)

da Silva dominated the triple jump during the 1950s. Besides his two victories at the Olympics, he also won gold in the Pan American games in 1951, 1955, and 1959. Over his career he set seven world records and his personal best of 16.56m at the 1955 Pan American Games was his last.

Answer: Nelson Evora (POR)

While Evora did make the 2004 Olympics, he didn't make the final. However, by 2008, he was ready for Olympic glory. He won the 2007 World Championships with his best jump ever at 17.74m and his momentum carried into 2008. In a close competition, Evora came out on top for the gold. He won the 2017 European Indoor Championships and placed third in 2018.

Answer: Christian Olsson (SWE)

Although plagued by injuries throughout his career, Olsson had one shining moment in 2004 when he won gold after a jump of 17.79 meters. However, an injury that occurred during the Olympics kept him in and out of competition for the next few years finally leading to his retirement in 2012. His last major victory was the European Championships in 2006.

Answer: Vilho Tuulos (FIN)

Tuulos was the first Finnish athlete to win triple jump gold. In 1920, unlike today, the jumps of the qualifying round carried over to the finals. His jump in the qualifying was long enough to take the gold. While it was his only gold medal, he did also compete in the 1924 and 1928 Olympics, winning bronze twice.

Answer: Nick Winter (AUS)

Anthony "Nick" Winter won gold in 1924 and set a world record that stood for 7 years before being broken by Mikio Oda of Japan. He is from Brocklesby, New South Wales. He also competed in the 1928 Olympics but finished 12th.

Answer: Khristo Markov (BUL)

Markov was a bit of a surprise winner at the Olympics at Seoul. While he had won the European Championships the year before with a personal best of 17.92m, he wasn't highly considered to become the winner. Markov surprised everyone by posting an early distance that no one could match. That was the last championship of any kind that he had, although he did later coach Tereza Marinova who won gold in the women's triple jump in 2000.