Spanovic Into Triple Jump Final, Chases Medal Tonight
The triple jump final mark was 14.15 meters. Ivana Spanovic cleared 14.21 on her first attempt and skipped the other two jumps. The Birmingham final is tonight at 20:40.
She was first out in her qualifying group, meaning there was no result on the board yet to tell her exactly what would be enough. She had three attempts banked and a plan that called for exactly one. Ivana Spanovic carried out that plan on her very first try, then watched the rest of the Birmingham qualifying round from the bench while the other competitors were only starting to spend their jumps.
The automatic qualifying mark for the triple jump final was 14.15 meters. Spanovic landed at 14.21 in her opening round, and that was it for her evening; she never had to walk back to the runway.
“That’s always the plan, if you can clear it on the first try. And when I saw I was jumping first… Sweetest feeling,” Spanovic said after qualifying.
Fifteen medals, all in the long jump
What makes this final special isn’t the 14.21 but the number 15. That is how many medals Spanovic has won at major championships, and every single one came in the long jump. She came to the triple jump late, and has yet to win a medal in it, so any spot on the podium tonight would be a first of its kind for her.
She doesn’t hide from that math, but she doesn’t treat it as pressure either. Asked what she expects from the new discipline, she said it isn’t a matter of luck but of how much time she has left to work with.
“I didn’t just show up and become a European and world champion who lasted this long. Here it’s now a question of how much time I need, and how much time I have left for my body to be able to do it. Still, as long as I’m healthy, all of this excites me, and I believe I’ll get closer to the distances I’ve imagined for myself.”
The line about her body isn’t incidental. Spanovic built her career in a discipline with a single takeoff, while the triple jump demands three, and that toll on the body isn’t something learned in a couple of seasons.
Who is she up against in the final?
She rates the field as level, with no single name that walks in as the favorite for gold. She says that if the conversation were about the long jump, she would know exactly what to say, but the triple jump picture looks different.
“If we were talking about the long jump, I’d know what to say, but… The best European triple jumpers are off the track for legitimate reasons, and there’s also a generational shift going on. We’re all somewhere around the same level. Everyone here is a contender for the podium. It’s only a matter of nuances.”
Translated into the language of a final, that means the outcome will come down to centimeters and to who can hold up over six rounds. Qualifying only bought a ticket in, not a running order.
Mitrovic misses the final by three spots
The other Serbian competitor in the same qualifying round, Aleksandrija Mitrovic, produced the best jump of her career. She landed at 13.93 meters, a personal best, and for a moment it looked like enough. Once every group had finished, she was left in 15th place, with the top twelve advancing to the final. On her third and last attempt she managed 11.50 meters.
That same evening, Armin Sinancevic finished eighth in the shot put final with a throw of 20.02 meters. Serbia has 13 athletes at this championship, the 27th edition of the European Championships, running from August 10 to 16.
What’s next
The women’s triple jump final is scheduled for Thursday, August 13, starting at 20:40. Spanovic goes into it having sealed her qualifying mark in a single attempt, meaning she has two fewer jumps in her legs than the competitors who had to go the distance in qualifying.
Judging by how she handled qualifying, she isn’t likely to wait tonight to see what the others do. Spanovic tends to open strong almost as a rule, and in a final that by her own account comes down to nuances, the first jump alone could end up deciding everything.
