Lázaro Martínez

Havana, Sept 15 (JIT) - Cuban triple jumper Lazaro Martinez finished this Saturday in fifth place in the final of the 2024 Diamond League in Athletics, held in Brussels, Belgium.

Martinez, silver medalist at the World Outdoor Championships in Budapest 2023, was barely able to reach 16.23 meters, a discreet mark far from the 17.34 meters he has as his best result this season.

With that performance, he finished second to last among the six finalists who competed in search of the coveted gem in the triple jump.

The Guantanamo native opened the competition with 16.02 in his first attempt, in his third attempt he reached 16.23; and in his sixth and last opportunity he barely nailed the spikes at a distance of 15.91 meters. He also committed three faults.    

Pedro Pablo Pichardo, born in Cuba and nationalized Portuguese, who has the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2020 and the silver medal in the recent summer event in Paris, won the prize with a record of 17.33 meters.

He was followed by Germany's Max Heb (17.20) and Hugues Fabrice Zango (17.05), from Burkina Faso, world champion in the Hungarian capital, and owner of the bronze medal in the Japanese five hoops competition.

Last June, Martinez, eighth at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, won at the JBL Festival in Slovakia, where he cleared 16.88 meters.