byLarry EderTurkey, the host country, won a medal on Saturday, day 2. Tugba Danismaz took the gold with a good first jump. That good first jump stood up well for six attempts.
A medal for Turkey! Tugba Danismaz wins the Triple Jump
A triple jumper is given six jumps. If you have four fouls and two legal jumps, you better do it well. Tugba Danismaz opened the TJ with 14.31m, taking the lead. Her second jump was 14.11m, and then, there were four fouls.
Danismaz had wanted a medal in the TJ for some time. The terrible earthquake in her country was obviously on her mind, as the fans went crazy in the Attakoy Arean during her competition.
On this Saturday, Tugba Danismaz made her dream of a medal a reality!
Tugba said the following to the media: “As you know, we are going through a very tough time, and if people are happy because of my medal and they are healing their wounds because of the medals, that makes me very happy and proud. The spectators were so great today; if I make them smile, that is very good. Even at the championships two years ago – at the 36th version of these championships, I was dreaming about a medal. I was so sad that I could not get any medal. I promised myself that I would be getting a medal at the next one in front of my home crowd. I am very happy to win this medal for Turkey here today in front of the Turkish people. I am so happy that I am not alone in this – I have so many foreign friends who sent me messages and supported me so I am happy we are not alone.”
Dariya Derkach, ITA, took the silver with a fine series, 13.97m, 14.20m, 13.54m, 14.08m, foul, and 11.87m. Dariya told the media: “I did my second jump, it was good. After I tried to push a little bit. I believe that the atmosphere was influencing me. I came here with the podium on my mind, I felt good during the competition, I knew that I could medal, so I focused on the podium. I just tried to focus on myself, it was my competition, my jumps were the most important ones. I am extremely happy for team Italy because we like in the last five minutes, won three medals. It was a great day; the Italian team started to believe in itself. Something is going in the right way.”
Patricia Mamona, POR, was the bronze medalist. This writer expected Mamona to take the lead from attempt one, but it did not happen. The Portuguese NR holder just was having a tough day, 14.16m, 13.98m, foul, foul, 13.90m, and 13.41m.
Mamona has some serious hardware: Olympic silver medal in 2021, European, outdoor gold in 2016, silver in 2012, and before today, gold at European Indoor in 2021, silver in 2017, and now bronze! Patricia Mamona has competed in six European Indoors.
Mamona told the media about her experience today: “
I feel like the final was okay for me. I felt a little bit of pain during the qualification, so I was not sure if I was going to be able to compete. The warming-up was like a test, and I decided to compete. Unfortunately, I felt it and I am still feeling it. I am hoping it is nothing really bad. I knew I had to jump far on my first attempts, but eventually, I was not very lucky with the board. It has been a tough indoor season for me, since I have been injured almost the whole indoor season. For now, I have to focus on recovery and getting better. I am happy with my bronze medal, and I am very happy for the Turkish girl. I think she gave a present to Türkiye, especially during these sad times.”
