American Taylor leaps to second Olympic gold

Christian Taylor of the United States retained his Olympic men's triple jump title on Tuesday by jumping further than anyone else has recorded this season.

Christian Taylor made his mark of 17.86 metres at the first attempt.

The bright daylight did not deter World and Olympic champion Christian Taylor of the U.S. from defending his triple jump gold with a season best leap of 17.86 metres at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.

‘’I am a night person, so jumping in the morning was hard. I wanted it so much. The stars aligned," said the 26-year-old Taylor. He was, however, unable to come near the world record of 18.29 or the Olympic record of 18.09 that have stood for about 20 years.

"I wanted the world record. I will keep pushing for it. It has been there for long,’’ remarked Taylor, who beat compatriot Will Claye by 10 centimetres. Dong Bin of China was placed third with a personal best of 17.58 metres.

In women’s discus, Sandra Perkovic of Croatia defended the Olympic title with her only legal throw of 69.21 metres in the final. She joined Evelin Jahl and Nina Ponomaryeva in the select group of athletes who have won the event twice in the Olympics.

The 26-year-old Sandra beat Melina Robert-Michon of France, who threw a national record 66.73 metres, to become the eighth oldest woman to win an Olympic medal in athletics and the third oldest in a field event. World champion Denia Caballero won the bronze at 65.34 and it was the third successive medal in the event for Cuba.

In women’s 5000 metres semifinals, Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia, the 10,000 metres champion qualified strongly with a time of 15 minutes 4.34 seconds. The next best time in the semifinals was 15:17.43 by Sembere Teferi of Ethiopia.

In women’s 100 metre hurdles, Brianna Rollins of the U.S. qualified at the top with a time of 12.54 seconds, ahead of Kristi Castlin (12.68) of the U.S. and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (12.70) of Puerto Rico.