Patrícia Mamona, Olympic vice-champion, missed the podium in the women’s triple jump of the Indoor Athletics World Cups, finishing the final in sixth place, thanks to what was her best jump (14.42 m). The world champion, for the third time in a row, was Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas, who broke the world record with a jump of 15.74m.
The Portuguese athlete improved on her best result of the season, which was 14.17m, a mark that placed her as the 10th best of the finalists, but she never approached the marks that could give her access to medals.
Mamona started the final with a jump to 14.27m, dropping a little on the second attempt (14.24m). It was on the third attempt that the Portuguese reached what would be her best record (14.42m), a mark she would repeat again in her last event, after registering two zero jumps.
In first place, unsurprisingly, Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas, Olympic champion and world record holder, who, in her last event, broke the world record for the women’s triple jump indoors by jumping 15.74 m (the previous best record, 15.67m, also belonged to her and was set at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics), leaving runner-up, Ukrainian Maryna Bekh-Romanchuck, within a meter, while in third place was Jamaican Kimberly Williams, with 14.59m
At the end of the competition, Patrícia Mamona admitted that she felt she was worth more than the 14.42m she had achieved in those World Cups. “I know I was worth more and I know I’m worth more than my personal best and I know I’m worth more than the medals gave me. Now it’s time to focus on what I can do and let’s move on to the summer,” Mamona said.
“I took a risk, because I knew that to be in the medals I had to take a risk. Unfortunately, I risked a little too much. I had a very small draw which was for the medals, but the draws don’t count. Honestly, I think it was even better than I thought, because I have difficulty on this type of track. I have to get in my head that on an elevated track or on the ground I can jump a lot. Now I really have to focus, I can’t do anything about what’s already happened and I’m a fighter, let’s do it, I’m really excited for the summer,” he said.
“The best I’ve ever done at Worlds was fourth and now I’m even more excited to jump even higher. Halfway through the season I’m already thinking about what really matters, we’re going into the summer to give everything, God willing, without a hitch, even if I had a season that started a little late, because of an injury, but that’s no excuse,” he said.
About the Open Air World Cups, in Eugene, USA, in July, the European champion interior believes that “it will be a very tight World Cup in which there are many athletes who are already looking for the 15 meters”, a mark that he wants to repeat.
“Now I have to rehearse and enjoy this feeling of fire inside and start the season with a bang,” he said.
