“Physical strength in a triple jump is not the main thing, it is more important to keep a cool head” – Lebedeva

Olympic long jump champion Tatiana Lebedeva talks about how important it is to control your emotions during a triple jump performance.

– Physical strength in a triple jump is not the main thing. It is much more important to keep a cool head and to be able to scrupulously follow the instructions of the coach. Take the African Americans, who at different times have played in the treble. Physically they were clearly superior to us, they were always perfectly prepared, they bounced off the track like cats. But the nervous system has always been a weak point – in Africans it is too mobile. And everyone knew: if an African-American opponent suddenly became nervous beyond measure, his momentum could begin to “walk”, and in this case, jumps, as a rule, go wrong. It is clear that this is not a general rule, but I have observed such situations on several occasions.

Although there were exceptions. For example, Cuban Yamila Aldama might be pissed off. And double Olympic champion Françoise Mbango has always looked like someone who is exclusively on her own wave. She knew how to blink, ignore everything around her and not react to anything. In the sector, the athlete sometimes died out so much that, looking at her, I never ceased to be surprised: how can such a calm person jump? Our point of view is explosive.

Courage for a jumper – an obstacle? Absolutely not. He just needs to be controlled too. The competition is long, six attempts, and you have to be able to control your emotions, not let them interrupt the process, Lebedeva told RT.

Lebedeva won silver at the Sydney Games in 2000, became Olympic champion in Athens in 2004 in the long jump and won bronze in the triple jump.

Athletics Week takes place in Moscow from June 5-10. Watch the live broadcasts of the competitions on the Match group channels.

TR