By Lori Ewing
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela soared to her fourth consecutive world triple jump title on Friday, securing victory on her sixth and last jump to narrowly avoid disaster.
The world record holder and Olympic champion – unbeaten in more than two years – only sneaked into the final round of eight jumpers in last place before summoning a magical 15.08 metres on her final attempt to overtake Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk of Ukraine.
Bekh-Romanchuk, silver medallist in the long jump at the 2019 worlds, had to settle for another silver with 15.00. Leyanis Perez Hernandez of Cuba won the bronze with 14.96.
Rojas, whose world record is a massive 15.74m, was eighth with just 14.33m and three fouls through five jumps, throwing her hand up in frustration with each failed attempt.
After flying past the 15m mark in the pit, she squeezed her eyes shut hopefully before the winning distance was posted.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Ken Ferris)
