Spasovkhodskiy lands a 17-meter jump

Aleksandr Asledchenko threw down the gauntlet early in the first round of the triple jump competition by posting an impressive 16,99. This flashback-like effort, reminiscent of the National Championships five years ago when Aleksandr won the Russian title in this very arena and went on to a World Indoor bronze, kept him in the lead for a long time, until last year’s World Outdoor bronze medalist Igor Spasovkhodskiy surpassed him by one (!) centimeter – 17,00. Ironically, Igor’s way to the medal stand in Edmonton also started in Volgograd, when he won his first Russian title here two years ago. The jumpers remained in the same order through the rest of the competition, with Spasovkohdskiy hanging on to the title and Asledchenko finishing second.