Lleyton Davids pulled out the longest leap of his career to secure a 1cm victory in the triple jump at the national championships in Potchefstroom on Friday, holding off two New Zealand brothers whose dad once held the South African record in this event.
In a tight competition where the top three were separated by just 7cm, Boland-based Davids, 21, floated to 16.92m on his first attempt to secure his third consecutive crown, a nose ahead of North West University student Welrè Olivier, 20, on 16.91.
Seventeen-year-old Ethan Olivier, in the colours of Vaal Triangle but who competed for the Kiwis at the world junior championships last year, ended third on 16.85. Welrè, who was born in SA before moving with his family to New Zealand before he was a year old, broke the underwhelming 16.22m Kiwi record that had stood for 45 years when he went 16.48, also in Potchefstroom in February.
The two brothers, who grew up in Vereeniging after moving back to be closer to an ailing grandparent, plan to continue competing for New Zealand. Their father Wikus set the 16.89 SA record in 1994, which stood for a decade until Khotso Mokoena broke it and then improved it to its current 17.35m in 2014.
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King Davids makes it a triple jump hat-trick, but this one was by just 1cmLleyton Davids pulled out the longest leap of his career to secure a 1cm victory in the triple jump at the national championships in Potchefstroom on Friday, holding off two New Zealand brothers whose dad once held the South African record in this event.
Read more »
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