Pedro Pichardo

Cuban-born Portuguese triple jumper (born 1993)
59 ft 3+3⁄4 in) Cuba NR (for Cuba)
  • 17.98 m (58 ft 11+3⁄4 in) Portugal NR
  • Indoors
  • Triple jump: 17.48 m (57 ft 4 in) NR
    • Medal record

    Pedro Pablo Pichardo Peralta (Spanish pronunciation: [piˈtʃaɾðo], Portuguese pronunciation: [piˈʃaɾðu]; born 30 June 1993) is a Cuban-born Portuguese triple jumper who holds the current Olympic and European titles. He won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics with a Portuguese national record of 17.98 m (58 ft 11+3⁄4 in). He was world champion in 2022, and could not defend his title in 2023 due to injury.

    Pichardo was the 2012 World Junior Champion and the 2013 World Championship silver medalist. His 17.79 m (58 ft 4+1⁄4 in) in early 2014 was the best triple jump of the year. In 2015, his 17.94 m (58 ft 10+1⁄4 in) made him the #6 performer ever. A week later he improved to 18.06 m (59 ft 3 in), making him the No. 3 performer ever and the best performance the world has seen since 1996 (when Pichardo was only three years old).[3] At club level, he represents Benfica in Portugal.

    Career

    On 15 May 2015, Pichardo jumped 18.06 m (59 ft 3 in) (0.9 m/s) at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix. His performance made him the number 3 performer ever at the time. With Christian Taylor also jumping 18.04 m (59 ft 2 in) minutes later, this was the first competition in history to have two men jump over 18 m, being called "the greatest triple jump competition ever."[4] Pichardo's 18.06 m also improved his own Cuban national record of 17.94 m (58 ft 10+1⁄4 in) set one week earlier in Havana. That mark erased Yoelbi Quesada's nearly 18-year-old record, and put Pichardo in position #6 of the all-time top ten performers.[5] Back in 2013, Pichardo had won Athletissima with a mark of 17.58 m.[6]

    On 28 May 2015, Pichardo jumped 18.08 m (59 ft 3+3⁄4 in) (0.0 m/s) at the Copa Cuba-Memorial Barrientos meet in Havana, improving his own Cuban national record set two weeks earlier by 2 cm.[7]

    In April 2017, Pichardo disappeared from the Cuban national team's meeting in Stuttgart, Germany, appearing in Portugal days later.[8] After signing a contract with Portuguese club S.L. Benfica on 27 April,[9] he gained Portuguese citizenship on 7 December[10] and was eligible to compete for Portugal on international stage since August 2019.[11] Therefore, the first major competition in which Pichardo represented the Portuguese colours was the 2019 World Championships, finishing fourth in the final.[11]

    Pichardo established Portugal's triple jump record at 17.95 m during the 2018 IAAF Diamond League on 4 May 2018, winning a gold medal.[12] He also won gold medals at the 2019 IAAF Diamond League, with a personal season best of 17.53 m,[13] and at the 2020 IAAF Diamond League, with a mark of 17.40 m.

    Representing Portugal, Pichardo won the gold medal at the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships on 7 March 2021.[14] On 6 July, Pichardo jumped 17.92 m (+0.4) at the Gyulai István Memorial, beating Hugues Fabrice Zango.

    On 5 August 2021, Pichardo competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan representing Portugal. He won the gold medal in the triple jump event and the country's fifth ever gold medal.[15]

    Achievements

    Year Competition Venue Position Event Measure Notes
    Representing  Cuba
    2012 World Junior Championships Barcelona 1st Triple jump 16.79 m WJL
    2013 World Championships Moscow 2nd Triple jump 17.68 m
    2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot 2nd Triple jump 17.24 m
    2015 Pan American Games Toronto 1st Triple jump 17.54 m
    World Championships Beijing 2nd Triple jump 17.73 m
    Representing  Portugal
    2019 World Championships Doha 4th Triple jump 17.62 m
    2021 European Indoor Championships Torun 1st Triple jump 17.30 m
    Olympic Games Tokyo 1st Triple jump 17.98 m NR
    2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade 2nd Triple jump 17.46 m NIR
    World Championships Eugene, Oregon 1st Triple jump 17.95 m
    European Championships Munich 1st Triple jump 17.50 m
    2023 European Indoor Championships Istanbul 1st Triple jump 17.60 m NIR

    Personal bests

    Event Measure Venue Date Notes
    Triple jump Outdoor 18.08 m Havana 28 May 2015 NR for Cuba
    Indoor 17.60 m Istanbul 3 March 2023 NR for Portugal

    Personal life

    Pichardo is married to Arialis Gandulla, with whom he has a daughter, Rosalis Maria. His father, Jorge Pichardo, is his coach.[16][17]

    See also

    References

    1. ^ a b c d "Pedro Pablo Pichardo". Olympedia.org. OlyMADmen. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
    2. ^ "Pedro PICHARDO | Profile | World Athletics".
    3. ^ "Triple Jump – men – senior – outdoor". iaaf.org. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
    4. ^ "Pichardo vs Taylor clash in Doha is greatest triple jump competition ever – IAAF Diamond League". iaaf.org. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
    5. ^ Jon Mulkeen; Andrea Buongiovanni (8 May 2015). "Pichardo breaks Cuban triple jump record with 17.94m". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
    6. ^ "Bondarenko flies high with stunning 2.41m in Lausanne – IAAF Diamond League". iaaf.org. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
    7. ^ "Pichardo triple jumps 18.08m in Havana". iaaf.org. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
    8. ^ Pedro Pablo Pichardo: mais uma estrela a desertar de Cuba Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese)
    9. ^ "Feliz no Benfica" S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese)
    10. ^ "Pedro Pichardo já é português". www.slbenfica.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2018-01-08.
    11. ^ a b Pires, Bruno; Fernandes, Nuno (12 September 2018). "Pichardo pode representar Portugal a partir de agosto de 2019" [Pichardo allowed to represent Portugal starting from August 2019]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 September 2018.
    12. ^ Pires, Bruno; Frias, Rui (4 May 2018). "Pichardo estabelece novo recorde nacional do triplo salto" [Pichardo establishes new triple jump national record]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 5 May 2018.
    13. ^ Pedro Pichardo ganha Liga Diamante em Londres e consegue melhor marca pessoal do ano Observador, 20 July 2019 (in Portuguese)
    14. ^ "Pichardo is the European Indoor Champion". www.slbenfica.pt. March 7, 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
    15. ^ "Olympics-Athletics-Portugal's Pichardo wins men's triple jump gold | Headlines". Devdiscourse. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
    16. ^ "Pichardo: "Tive um tio que morreu para salvar Che Guevara no Congo"".
    17. ^ "Pichardo: Retalhos de uma história de vida".

    External links

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    • Pedro Pichardo at World Athletics Edit this at Wikidata
    • Pedro P. Pichardo at Olympics.com
    • Outras Histórias. Salto para a vitória [Other Stories. Jump to victory] - RTP (in Portuguese)
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