Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's triple jump explained

Event:Men's triple jump
Games:1920 Summer
Venue:Olympisch Stadion
Dates:August 19–21
Competitors:21
Nations:8
Win Value:14.505
Win Label:Winning distance
Longnames:yes
Gold:Vilho Tuulos
Goldnoc:FIN
Silver:Folke Jansson
Silvernoc:SWE
Bronze:Erik Almlöf
Bronzenoc:SWE
Prev:1912
Next:1924

The men's triple jump event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held from Thursday, August 19, 1920, to Saturday, August 21, 1920. Twenty-one triple jumpers from eight nations competed.[1] No nation had more than four jumpers, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Vilho Tuulos of Finland, the nation's first medal in the triple jump. Sweden, which had swept the medals in 1912, took the next three places. Erik Almlöf became the third man to win two medals in the event, repeating his bronze performance from 1912.

The winning margin was 2.5 cm which as of 2023 remains the only time the men's triple jump was won by less than 4 cm at the Olympics.

Background

This was the sixth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Two jumpers from the pre-war 1912 Games returned: bronze medalist Erik Almlöf of Sweden and fourth-place finisher Erling Vinne of Norway. [2]

Czechoslovakia made its first appearance in the event. The United States competed for the sixth time, having competed at each of the Games so far.

Competition format

The competition was described as two rounds at the time, but was more similar to the modern divided final. All athletes received three jumps initially. The top six after that received an additional three jumps to improve their distance, but the initial jumps would still count if no improvement was made.[2] [3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics. Dan Ahearn set his world record while being a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; at this Olympics he represented the United States.

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 19 August 1920 14:30 Qualifying
Saturday, 21 August 1920 11:30 Final

Results

The best six triple jumpers qualified for the final.

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance
1 14.505 14.460 14.395 No improvement 14.505
2 14.160 13.700 14.160 14.480 14.480
3 13.920 14.190 data-sort-value=1.00? 14.270 14.270
4 data-sort-value=13.860? data-sort-value=13.860? data-sort-value=13.860? 14.175 14.175
5 13.865 data-sort-value=14.000? data-sort-value=14.000? 14.170 14.17
6 data-sort-value=13.750? data-sort-value=13.750? data-sort-value=13.750? 14.080 14.080
7 13.740 13.695 13.370 data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 13.740
8 data-sort-value=13.675? data-sort-value=13.675? data-sort-value=13.675? data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 13.675
9 12.890 13.640 13.000 data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 13.640
10 13.630 13.350 13.550 data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 13.630
11 12.800 13.590 13.480 data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 13.590
12 data-sort-value=13.520? data-sort-value=13.520? data-sort-value=13.520? data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 13.520
13 13.290 data-sort-value=13.340? data-sort-value=13.340? data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 13.340
14 data-sort-value=13.150? data-sort-value=13.150? data-sort-value=13.150? data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 13.150
15 12.600 data-sort-value=13.040? data-sort-value=13.040? data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 13.040
16 data-sort-value=12.925? data-sort-value=12.925? data-sort-value=12.925? data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 12.925
17 data-sort-value=12.650? data-sort-value=12.650? data-sort-value=12.650? data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 12.650
18 data-sort-value=12.600? data-sort-value=12.600? data-sort-value=12.600? data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 12.600
19 data-sort-value=12.475? data-sort-value=12.475? data-sort-value=12.475? data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance 12.475
data-sort-value=1.00X data-sort-value=1.00X data-sort-value=1.00X data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance data-sort-value=1.00No mark
data-sort-value=1.00X data-sort-value=1.00X data-sort-value=1.00X data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=3did not advance data-sort-value=1.00No mark
data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=7
Maxime Girard data-sort-value=0.00 colspan=7

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Athletics at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games: Men's Triple Jump . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174810/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1920/ATH/mens-triple-jump.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 21 December 2017 . sports-reference.com.
  2. Web site: Triple Jump, Men . Olympedia . 4 September 2020.
  3. Official Report, p. 113.