Sarr soars to Ultimate triple jump title in Budapest

Saly Sarr in the triple jump at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship Budapest 26 (© Getty Images)

One leap was all it took for Saly Sarr to secure the triple jump title at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Sunday (13), but only just.

In a clash that brought together all four athletes to have surpassed 15 metres in 2026, Sarr – the Diamond League champion – opened with 15.06m and while Davisleydi Velazco threatened that mark in the third round, her 15.04m just wasn’t quite enough.

After that strong start, no one went farther, and so Senegal’s Sarr secured the title ahead of Velazco and her Cuban compatriot Leyanis Pérez Hernández, the world champion who placed third on 14.90m.

Sarr lined up in Budapest looking to maintain momentum after joining the 15-metre club with 15.08m during the Diamond League meeting in Silesia and then winning the Diamond League title in Brussels.

And she showed her intent from the start, leaping beyond 15 metres again to add the inaugural Ultimate crown to her Diamond Trophy and world indoor bronze medal from Toruń in March.

She backed up her winning leap with 14.92m in the third round and 14.83m in the fourth round, then faced a nervous wait to see if her rivals could respond.

Velazco was next up and jumped 14.44m in the final round, while Pérez Hernández passed her final go, later explaining how she felt her hamstring tighten and decided it was better to stop than risk a rupture.

Dominica’s Olympic champion Thea LaFond, who achieved the best performance in the world for almost four years when she leapt 15.25m in Zagreb in June – a mark that moved her to joint ninth on the world all-time list – was the last to jump. But as she landed at 14.09m, Sarr was confirmed as the champion, LaFond finishing fourth with her best of 14.47m from the third round.

"It really means a lot to win and become the Ultimate champion," said Sarr. "I am really happy, really emotional and truly satisfied.

"We will keep working, keep winning and prepare ourselves for other goals in the future. There's no holidays, it's just back to work."

Velazco said: "This was a very important competition, an event where the conditions were created for us to produce results like this. It has been a very demanding year for me as I have been working outside of sport in another job while also training, so this result is extremely important to me."

Jess Whittington for World Athletics