Teddy Tamgho

Teddy Tamgho (born 15 June 1989) is a French triple jumper and long jumper.

He specialises in the triple jump.

He improved even further in mid February at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy indoor meeting in Paris with a jump of 17.58 m (he had a foul jump near the 17.80 m mark) — a new under-23 world record and just one centimetre short of the French national indoor record set by Pierre Camara in 1993 in Toronto.

Tamgho's first triple jump gold medal came at the 2008 World Junior Championships and he reached the triple jump final (where he finished in 11th position) of the World Championships the following year.

His first international championships appearance came at the 2007 European Junior Championships and he just missed out on the podium, taking fourth, but still managed a personal best jump of 16.35 m. At the end of 2007, in Eaubonne, he set a new national junior record of 16.53 m. He registered a mark of 16.94 metres to win his first French National Indoor Championships senior triple jump title on 16 February 2008 in Bordeaux — a jump which made him the second best junior triple jumper indoors of all time internationally, just behind Volker Mai.

Tamgho stated that his run-up speed was his strong point and that his success was a result of working with his coach, Jean-Hervé Stievenart, and training partners Karl Taillepierre and Benjamin Compaoré.

Going into the 2008 outdoor season, Tamgho achieved the Olympic qualifying mark (17.10 m) but the tailwind of 2.1 m/s was slightly too strong to make his jump valid.

He did not manage to achieve the requisite mark in time for the Olympic team selection and it was Colomba Fofana who took the only men's triple jump berth in the 2008 French Olympic team.

Tamgho won the 2008 World Junior Championships gold medal with a jump of 17.33 m in the final, but the mark was wind-aided (2.1 m/s), just outside the legal limit of 2.0 m/s.

Tamgho was the only athlete to clear the 17m mark in that final, and he did it thrice.

He failed to repeat his form at the French national outdoor championships, and was fourth in 16.79 m—far behind the event winner Jules Lechanga.

Coached by Jean-Hervé Stievenart and Laurence Bily, Tamgho started the 2009 indoor season with notable improvements, beating his 16.94 m (set on 16 February 2008) indoor personal best three times consecutively in Mondeville on 1 February (the best jump was 17.37 m).

He then jumped 17.44 m to claim his second senior national indoor triple jump title at the 2009 French National Indoor Championships in Liévin.

Tamgho had been competing in recent weeks with an injury, however, and he used the two weeks leading to the 2009 European Indoor Championships in Turin as recovery time.

At those championships he opened with a jump of 15.94m but fouled his remaining two jumps, and was thus eliminated in the qualification round despite being one of the favourites of the triple jump event.

At the start of the 2009 outdoor season he lined up against the 2008 Olympics silver medallist Phillips Idowu at the Meeting Areva in Paris.

While Idowu jumped 17.17 m to earn victory, Tamgho was well below his top form and jumped 16.97 m to take fifth place.

He confirmed himself as the nation's top triple jumper in July 2009 by winning his first French National Outdoor Championships

(held in Angers) senior triple jump title with a jump of 17.11 m (which was his best jump of the year).

That was enough to earn him qualification for the upcoming World Championships in Berlin.

At the 2009 World Championships in August, Tamgho qualified for the final with a jump of 17.11 m in the qualification round.

However, he did not improve in the final.

He could only finish the final in eleventh position, with only one legal jump in the final (16.79 m).

He came to prominence by setting his first triple jump world indoor record of 17.90 m in winning the triple jump final and gold medal at the 2010 World Indoor Championships.

He was the triple jump overall winner of the 2010 IAAF Diamond League and the triple jump bronze medallist at the 2010 European Championships.

After finishing as runner-up to Colomba Fofana in the triple jump senior category at the French National Indoor Championships in February 2010 with a jump of 17.01 m, Tamgho turned his attention on the global stage.

At the 2010 World Indoor Championships, he took an early lead in the triple jump final with a jump of 17.41 m, but Yoandri Betanzos surprised him with a 17.69 m personal best in the first round.

Tamgho initially thought a lesser jump would have been enough to secure the title, but following the Cuban's jump he said "I had to react and give it all".

After a couple of fouls and two more jumps past the 17-metre mark, Tamgho had one final jump left to overhaul Betanzos.

On his last attempt, he jumped seven centimetres clear of the existing indoor world record mark (jointly held by Aliecer Urrutia and Christian Olsson) to set a new world indoor record of 17.90 m and break Pierre Camara's 17-year-old national indoor record of 17.59m.

He said he thought his previous season had been flawed, but that he had now grown stronger and matured, following advice from fellow competitors Jadel Gregório and Phillips Idowu to take part in competitions in a calmer manner.

Tamgho's good form continued into the 2010 outdoor season.

He recorded a series of five jumps over 17 metres at the French National Interclub Championships, highlighted by a world leading jump of 17.63 m (and a new French national record), on 23 May in Franconville.

He had a wind-assisted jump of 17.63 m two weeks later in Montreuil.

He is the former triple jump world indoor record holder, achieved in winning the final and gold medal at the 2011 European Indoor Championships.

Tamgho missed the 2012 London Olympics because of an operation on his right ankle.

He is the world's sixth best ever triple jumper outdoors, with his best mark of 18.04 metres achieved in winning the final and gold medal at the 2013 World Championships.

Tamgho also mentors fellow French triple jumper Rouguy Diallo, who won the gold medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Eugene, Oregon.

Born in Paris, France, Teddy Tamgho became interested in athletics as a young boy growing up in the commune of Sevran.

He began representing Dynamic Aulnay Club in triple jump competitions from the age of 13.