Do you need to be tall to be a triple jumper?

There is a myth in the athletics world that you need to be tall with long legs in order to be a triple jumper. This isn’t necessarily true. Although there are several triple jumpers that are over 6 feet in height, there are a few notable triple jumpers that have reached the elite level and whose height is lower than 1.83m.

Jonathan Edwards

He is the world record holder and his height is 1.82m. His weight at the time was 71kg. His official personal best is 18.29m.

Kenny Harrison

He is 1.78m tall. His personal best is 18.09m. He was also 75kg at the time.

You can use the following table to get an idea about heights and weights for some of history’s best triple jumpers.

Triple Jumper	Distance	Height	Weight
Jonathan Edwards	18.29m	1.82m	71kg
Viktor Saneyev	17.44m	1.88m	78kg
Christian Taylor	18.21m	1.88m	79kg
Willie Banks	17.97m	1.90m	77kg
Teddy Tamgo	18.04m	1.87m	82kg
Kenny Harrison	18.09m	1.78m	75kg
Mike Conley	17.75m	1.85m	77kg

What’s needed to succeed as a triple jumper?

Athletes need to have a tremendous amount of speed by the time they reach the take-off point and they must be able to maintain that velocity through the three phases of the triple jump.

Athletes must condition their bodies to maximise their acceleration, explosiveness and biomechanic rhythm so they will be able to achieve the greatest distance when doing the triple jump.

Want to get faster and more powerful so you can improve your triple jump performance?

Below are items that you should purchase and incorporate into your triple jump development program so you can improve your jumping distance in the next 3 months.

Protect yourself from injury in the triple jump.

One of the common injuries that triple jumpers get is a bruised heel. Once you get this, it makes it more difficult to improve your triple jump performance since you will get pain every time you land on your foot. And it will knock your confidence.

To help minimize the risk of getting a bruised heel, you can get heel protection insoles for your shoes.

You can click here to buy some heel insoles.

Asics triple jump pro athletics shoes

Specialized triple jump shoes will give you added protection and comfort on your foot and especially around your heel. If you are doing triple jumps that require you to handle alot of force on your jumps (Typically when you start jumping over 13 metres), then you will need to invest in triple jump spikes.

Click here to buy these triple jump shoes on VS Athletics.

Improve your triple jump training.

Improve your triple jump (For beginners only)

If you are fairly new to the triple jump, this ebook will help you with training insights to get you to the intermediate level quickly. You will definitely improve by at least 30 cm, however you should see yourself improve by 1-2m over the next 12 months.

Click here to buy it now.

Elite-level triple jump

If you are intermediate or advanced in triple jump, then you will want the knowledge and guidance from elite-level triple jumpers and coaches.

Buy the series from World Class Triple Jump series to take your triple jump performances to the elite level.

Click here to buy it on Championship Productions.

A time to jump.

Learn about the mentality from triple jump world record holder Jonathan Edwards in his book “A time to jump.”

Click here to buy the book on Amazon.