Athletics-Pichardo takes dramatic triple jump gold with last leap

World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 - Men's Triple Jump Final - Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan - September 19, 2025 Portugal's Pedro Pichardo in action during the final REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel

TOKYO (Reuters) - Pedro Pichardo won the world triple jump gold medal after the most extraordinary finale on Friday as Italy’s Andrea Dallavalle thought he had snatched it with a huge final jump, only for the Portuguese to respond with a massive 17.91 metres.

Returning to the site of his 2021 Tokyo Olympic gold, Pichardo, the 2022 world champion, seemed to be cruising to a routine victory after twice landing 17.55 jumps.