Hibbert going for gold in Paris

Jaydon Hibbert’s fine 2023 triple jump season put him in contention for the Bowerman Award, the prize for the most outstanding US collegiate athlete of the past season. However, even before that presentation, Hibbert is looking ahead to Paris, France, host city of next year’s Olympic Games. After a crushing disappointment at the Budapest World Championship, Hibbert has quietly set his sights on the Olympic gold medal.

With NCAA indoor and outdoor titles in his pocket, Hibbert arrived in Budapest with the world leading jump - 17.87 metres - and topped qualifying with an effort taped at 17.70. Then, disaster struck in the form of a hamstring strain during his first jump in the final. Fabrice Zango, of Burkino Faso, who had edged Hibbert in the Monaco Diamond League, took the gold with a winning mark of 17.67 metres.

Speaking on Monday, the 18 year-old Jamaica said, “I’m a little more focused as it pertains to my recovery.” Then, without a hint of bluster, he itemised his target for 2024. “I’m more focused as it relates to winning the meets that matter and communication with Coach. I think that’s one of the big things that allows for success in my career but I would say that I’m coming for the gold,” he pinpointed.

“Everybody is,” he added, “but I’m really hungry for the gold medal in Paris and I’m working towards it.”

Working with him is his University of Arkansas coach, Travis Geopfert.

“I’m excited for Jaydon. He’s understanding the importance of laying a good foundation and is very much focused on the process. For his age, he’s being very patient and understanding that not everything has to happen all at once,” Geopfert assessed in a recent interview with The Gleaner.

Lofty goals aside, Hibbert is pleased with his 2023 achievements.

“I didn’t expect to shoot off my first year like that, because the season started, I would say, weird in a way,” he said, noting hamstring, back and ankle injuries he suffered early on. Thankfully, communication with Geopfert allowed him to avoid more trouble.

“The moment I felt something, the moment I wasn’t feeling good,” he related, “I listened to my body and said, ‘hey coach, maybe today I need to tone it down’ or whatever, and stuff like that. So I think communication and him being the genius he is, working around it and compiling the programme in such a way where it suits a youngling that’s growing, doing triple jump and hurting at the same time.”

Hibbert set a world Under-20 indoor record - 17.54m - to win the indoor NCAA and boomed his 17.87m mere weeks before the outdoor NCAA Championships.

The other Bowerman nominees are Leo Neugebauer of Texas and Germany, who finished fifth in the decathlon in Budapest, and another decathlete, Kyle Garland from the University of Georgia.