Amazing Karidi – Gold Medal for Greece in Triple Jump U20 (VIDEO)
The Greek team won four medals at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in Boras, Sweden, making it Greece’s best showing at the event since 2005.
Greece’s star of the Championships was easily Spiridoula Karidi. After choosing to not compete in the long jump (which she had also been qualified for) in order to focus on the triple jump, the 18-year-old from Kerkyra nearly missed out on the triple jump final. Failing to register a valid jump after the first two rounds of qualifying, Karidi recorded a jump of 13.63 metres (just short of her personal record of 13.64 metres) on her third and final attempt, to finish in first place overall in qualifying.
Unlike in the qualifying rounds, Karidi would not struggle in the final. Her opening jump was 14.00 metres, a new Greek national U20 record. That would be enough to win gold, as Bulgaria’s Aleksandra Nacheva (the world champion) could only reach 13.81 metres, meaning that the event favourite would go home with just a silver medal. In addition to her jump of 14.00 metres, Karidi also registered jumps of 13.76, 13.67, 13.60, and 13.57 metres.
With the Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifying standard for the women’s triple jump being 14.32 metres, it is very possible that Karidi will be able to achieve that within the next year and compete in her first Olympics whilst still a teenager. Just to put things into perspective, her personal record has improved from 12.18 metres in 2017, to 13.27 metres in 2018, to now 14.00 metres in 2019.
Source: Agonasport
