Triple Jumper Praveen Chithravel finishes 6th at Monaco Diamond League

Praveen Chithravel, the national record holder in the triple jump, produced a 16.59m leap to finish sixth in his debut Diamond League meeting in Monaco on Friday.

A last-minute entry to the tournament, Praveen was returning from a hamstring injury after pulling out of Asian Athletics Championships earlier this month.

Starting in a strong field, the Tamil Nadu athlete came up with a jump of 15.69m in his first jump. He improved significantly in his second attempt with a 16.44m jump.

Improving further in his third jump, he jumped 16.54m before coming up with a 16.32m leap.

In his fifth and final jump, the 22-year-old recorded a 16.75m leap as the board flashed, but later it was changed to 16.59m, which earned him a sixth-place finish.

This performance gave Praveen three qualification points for the Diamond League Final race.

Praveen, whose national record stands at 17.37m, failed to breach the 17m mark for the first time in 2023. He had recorded 17m-plus jumps in all three competitions where he participated this year and recorded 17.07m, 17.17m, and 17.37m jumps, respectively.

Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso won the event with a final round jump of 17.70m, as World U-20 champion and season leader Jaydon Hibbert (17.66m) of Jamaica and Yasser Mohammed Triki (17.32m) of Algeria were second and third respectively.