Triple jumper Chithravel 6th in Monaco Diamond meet

India’s Praveen Chithravel finished sixth in the men’s triple jump at the Monaco Diamond League 2023 athletics meet on Saturday.

Making his Diamond League debut, the 22-year-old registered his best jump of 16.59 metres on his fifth and final effort.

Chithravel’s other jumps measured 15.69 metres, 16.44m, 16.54m and 16.32m.

Competing after missing nearly a month due to injury, he failed to surpass the 17-metre mark for the first time in four outdoor meets this year.

He holds the triple jump National record at 17.37m, attained in Cuba in May, which met the qualifying standard for the World Athletics Championships, to be held in August in Budapest, Hungary.

Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics and two-time World Championships medalist won the competition with a leap of 17.70 metres.

Chithravel received three qualification ranking points for the Diamond League final in 2023 due to the outcome in Monaco.

He is currently ranked 12th, ahead of fellow-countryman Abdulla Aboobacker, who participated in the Florence Diamond League.

For participating in each Diamond League leg, athletes receive points rather than medals.

At the conclusion of all legs, the best eight competitors in each event will advance to the Diamond League Final, where they will battle it out for the Championship medal.

The competition in Monaco, also called the Herculis EBS, was the ninth leg of the Diamond League 2023 season. The series will wrap up with the two-day final in Eugene, the USA on September 16 and 17.