Peleteiro, sixth, saw the medal escape in the triple jump

Ana Peleteiro was left without a medal on a fateful night, drenched in water at the Stade de France in Paris. His Olympic triple jump bronze in Tokyo did not go through. It didn’t seem to be his day, although he arrived well, happy, optimistic and launched into a year full of great results. If the European Championship in Rome, two months ago, catapulted him to gold and the absence due to injury of Yulimar Rojas increased his weight as favorite for medals in the Olympic event, when push came to shove to push something that went wrong. He’s not the tough, fierce competitor he usually is at big events.

Peleteiro, who lacked the ability to react, had a very flat competition and finished sixth with a score of 14.59, which was definitely not enough to think about a podium at the Games. The winner of the night came from a country of 72,000 inhabitants that until this final had not won a single Olympic medal, the Caribbean island of Dominica. Her representative, Thea Lafond, was among the favorites, and to win gold she set the best mark of her life, 15.02 meters. In the back, the silver went to Shanieka Ricketts, from Jamaica (14.87), and the bronze, to the American Jasmine Moore 14.67.

Ana had to open the final, and the first jump, 14.55 meters, kept her in the lead until Cuban Leyanis Pérez went 14.62 and Jamaican Shanieka Ricketts 14.61. The Galician did not take advantage of the second turn: a bad ‘step’, the second step of his jump, and a fall standing in the pit, without completing it, for a 13.73 that was useless to him. As if that was not enough, the Dominican Thea Lafond hit, yes, the first mark with a gold value: 15.02, and the American Jasmine Moore (14.67) was further behind Peleteiro, fifth after the second round .

Ricketts made things worse: 14.87 – like the Spanish record of Peleteiro who won bronze in Tokyo -, which made the medals even more expensive, and the Spaniard reached the halfway point of the competition with the third jump which was again quite weak, 14.52 . His coach, Ivan Pedroso, is desperate for the standings. In an improvement from fifth place and on the podium, 12 centimeters away.

The rain also complicates everything. Water fell heavily on the packed Stade de France, causing pit and track activity to be delayed for several minutes. On his return, the fourth jump, although it was the longest in his series until then (14.59), did not push the European champion into the top three, although it reduced the distance to the medals to only 8 centimeters. Everything remained the same.

The final ran out without reaction. In the penultimate turn, the Cuban Liadagmis Povea also overtook Peleteiro (6th, who also did not have the right jump (14.26). The trend was maintained: good ‘hop’ (first step), ‘step’ (second) too low and a ‘leap’ that did not reach what Ana and Pedroso wanted.

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The last round buried any choice. The Spanish woman again achieved a cautious, inadequate jump of 14.32 meters. And at the front, Lafond and Ricketts, without improving their performance, remained in gold and silver until the end, with the American Jasmine Moore bronze with a score (14.67) 20 centimeters worse than the one that gave Peleteiro podium three years ago in Tokyo.

Peleteiro, who became a mother a year and a half ago, returned to training shortly after, after a long year on the track. Until the Olympic disappointment in Paris, his season was impressive, with a European gold, a World Indoor bronze and a boost in confidence. “Ever since I became a mother, I’m a better athlete,” she said. In Paris, however, something went wrong.