Triple jump: Zango, 18 meters and a record that must be valued

A world record fell this weekend, that of the triple indoor jump.

Hugues Fabrice Zango jumped 18 meters 07 Saturday in Auvergne.

It doesn't necessarily mean much to us, if we are not expert in athletics.

But for Virginie Phulpin, this athlete and his record deserve all the light. 

Already to help you realize, therefore measure 18 07 meters in your garden or in your street.

You will understand what it is like to erase that distance in three jumps.

18 meters is one of the legendary bars of sport.

A bit like running the 100 meters in less than 10 seconds.

Those who bring them down enter a very closed circle.

Before Hugues Fabrice Zango, there were only five in history to have done so, but always outside.

That is to say with a little wind which can help you slightly.

Indoors, the Burkinabé is the first.

The only.  

In addition, this world record took place in the era of Covid.

Few will be able to say "I was there".

No, there was no one in the stands at Aubière, near Clermont-Ferrand.

And Virginie Phulpin finds it even stronger to have beaten this record in these conditions, without this public which succeeds in giving wings to the athletes.

Hugues Fabrice Zango could only count on himself, he took off on his own on Saturday.

To fall 18 07 meters further.

And inevitably, he could not have had a standing ovation.

Even the cameras were missing.

And we cannot even open the Team to read a report that gives us the impression of living and reliving this feat, since the journalists are on strike.

In this kind of moment, we understand a little more the importance of this journal and of the work of those who make it.

Hugues Fabrice Zango's feat cannot remain invisible.

He deserves all the light.  

We have almost lost the habit of seeing world records fall. 

Between the competitions canceled, postponed, behind closed doors, and the psychological fragility of the athletes in a period like this, we must aim for a world record.

This is also why Virginie Phulpin wants us to measure the scope of what Hugues Fabrice Zango has just achieved.

We don't know anything about the future, we don't know if the Tokyo Olympics will take place, so he doesn't know what he's preparing for.

And he succeeds in ignoring all that to fly to 18 07 meters. Hats off, yes.

You still have to have a great ability to live in the moment and focus only on your work to get there. 

Next to Hugues Fabrice Zango this Saturday, his trainer, Teddy Tamgho.

It is the French who held the world record indoors until then, with his 17.92 meters. "The student has passed the master".

This is how he commented with a smile on the feat of his protégé.

This is also sport.

Transmit, surpass oneself, and be surpassed.

Life, what.

Life despite everything.

So no, Virginie Phulpin does not want us to be indifferent to such a performance.