A hop, skip, and jump away

PARIS, France:

JAYDON HIBBERT’S immense talent gets another chance to show itself at a global event, this time at the biggest one.

Hibbert, though a bona fide star in the triple jump, is yet to announce himself at the world stage, with injury putting paid to what looked like a certain medal at the Budapest World Championships last year.

Hibbert heads to the triple jump pit for a 12:15 p.m. start with the confidence that throughout what has been a meteoric rise, there has been one constant that has guided him over the past two years – his coach Travis Geopfert.

Hibbert, along with his national teammate Jordan Scott, will lead the charge in the event, hoping to secure Jamaica’s first Olympic medal in the men’s event, days after Shanieka Ricketts captured the women’s triple jump title on Saturday.

Hibbert’s storming ascent began last year when he broke the world under-20 record, captured both NCAA indoor and outdoor titles, qualified for his first major senior global championships, and made his first World Championships final.

Unfortunately, he had to withdraw because of a hamstring strain picked up in the first round of the final. Hibbert says Goepfert’s adaptability, as well as his commitment to longevity, have been qualities he admires the most

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“Travis, he adapts. That’s what I like about him. In every situation, he is different. The way he deals with Wayne (Pinnock) and Carey (McLeod) and all the big guys, he will not deal with them like how he deals with me. I wouldn’t say that he babies me or softens me up, but he is a bit more delicate when it comes to my training, my progress. I’m so young, you can only give so much to a young body,” Hibbert said last week at a PUMA media day.

“You don’t want to throw everything and then you crash. So when people are like, ‘Hey, you need to hurry up and jump 18 metres,’ it is not about hurry up and jump 18. It is the process to get to jump 18 metres so you can be consistent. You don’t want to jump it once and then that’s it.”

The landscape of the event this season has been heightened by European champion Jordan Diaz Fortune and reigning Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo, who have the two best jumps this year (18.18 and 18.04). Hibbert is third in the world with 17.75.

Even with the strength of the field, Hibbert says that he is confident in his abilities and not worried about the pressure to match his competition.

“They can jump 19 right now and I will still pop off. I ‘m going to still do my own thing. I’m not going to be like, ‘They are jumping 18, I need to go 19.’ Their journey is their journey, and I respect their journey. And hopefully, they will respect theirs,” Hibbert said.

Hibbert knows the speed at which he has developed is a bit of an anomaly; however, he is concentrating on enjoying the moment, even as he prepares to step on to the biggest stage of his career.

“To come so far in three and half years since I have been doing triple jump says a lot. It speaks volumes, and my situation is unique. A lot of these guys (juniors) weren’t jumping 17.5. I am relishing my unique experience and just having fun with it.”