Christian Taylor, Will Claye finish 1-2 again for U.S. in men's triple jump

Christian Taylor successfully defended his Olympic triple jump title. (AP Photo)

 

Triple jumper Christian Taylor won his second consecutive Olympic gold medal and the second for an American in jumping events at the Rio Games, leaping 17.86 meters Tuesday morning to hold off teammate and silver medalist Will Claye.

While Taylor fell short of his goal to beat the world-record 18.29-meter jump, he became the first American to win back-to-back triple jump golds since Meyer Prinstein in 1900 and 1904.

Taylor, 26, overhauled his jumping style since his gold medal in London. He previously took his first and second jumps off his left leg, but a knee injury forced him to change to his right. Even with Taylor going right-right-left, the other seven competitors in the finals couldn’t match him with any of their six jumps.

Claye tried. The 25-year-old has been one of Taylor’s top foes for years, competing against him while they both attended the University of Florida as well as on Team USA. On his final jump, Claye needed to beat Taylor’s 17.86. He came up short, though his previous jump of 17.76 held for silver. However, he was not denied in the stands afterwards, proposing to his girlfriend, Queen Harrison.

	USATF @usatf
AND HERE IT IS!!!! CONGRATS @WilliamClaye & @goQueengo!!!! 💍 #Rio2016 #TeamUSA #LoveIsInTheAir #SoAreTripleJumpers pic.twitter.com/CIkmZt9jUQ 7:19 AM - 16 Aug 2016

Slow-clapping over his head and yelling to the crowd before each jump, Taylor did not come close to 18.30, a number he has etched inside of his shoes to remind himself of his target. He did, however, win another gold medal, joining long jumper Jeff Henderson and shot putter Michelle Adams as Americans to capture them at Olympic Stadium.

Bin Dong of China won bronze in the triple jump.