Christian Taylor defended his Olympic gold medal in the triple jump looking like a mirror image of himself from London four years ago.
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Newly minted with his second consecutive Olympic silver medal in the triple jump – American Christian Taylor won gold, also just as in 2012 – Clay clambered over the barrier separating the track from the stands, climbed a few rows to meet his girlfriend, bent down on one knee and proposed.
Taylor is the first American man to win multiple gold medals in a field event since Carl Lewis. I couldn’t even imagine what was going through his head, ” Taylor said.
“I told her that she was my best friend. It’s the morning session and I’m not really a morning person”, he said.
It was a season best for Taylor.
It was 1-2 again for the U.S., the same as London, as teammate and fellow former Florida Gator Will Claye (17.76 meters) took silver.
“I just knew today was going to be the best day of my life”, Claye said.
The line moved more quickly than expected and after maybe a half hour or 45 minutes, I made it to the front. I know we’re jumpers, but that’s quite risky.
Abbey D’Agostino (Topsfield, Massachusetts) was running near the back of the closely-bunched pack through 3,000m in the second heat when Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand fell in front of her and brought D’Agostino down very painfully.
“But he’s a good man. Everyone here has a story, and I’m glad I got to witness that”. It was the first proposal in Rio.
British dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin was also asked by partner Dean Golding to marry him after she won gold on Monday, though they were already engaged after an initial proposal in 2009.
After a “game-changing” 2015, the 26-year-old was once again clearing the 18-metre mark, making a jump of 18.21 metres at the Beijing world championships to claim second place in the all-time list behind Briton Jonathan Edwards’s 1995 world record of 18.29. I wanted the world record but it wasn’t to be. My race would have been slower but Sani pushed me so much.
China’s Bin Dong opened with a 17.58m PB for a mark just 1cm off the Asian record and bagged the bronze despite that being his only valid jump of the competition as he passed his final three attempts after getting medical treatment following round three. Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon took the gold medal and Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba got silver.
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It was a change akin to swapping writing hands, according to his coach Rana Reider.
