Olympic triple-jump champion Christian Taylor explains how he shifted from soccer to the sport in college, finding success through a blend of strength, speed, and coordination rather than a single body type. His 38-40 meter approach and focus on maintaining speed through all three phases set him apart, along with a coaching philosophy centered on data and simplicity.
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Gillette World Sport is back on the road to Rio as we catch up with world and Olympic champion triple jumper Christian Taylor. At the 2012 Olympics, Taylor became the youngest triple jump champion in 100 years at age 21. Despite reaching the pinnacle of his sport so early, triple jump wasn't always his event.
I played soccer, football, all my life, and my dad just said that I wasn't that talented at soccer. It was a passion of mine, but I had to get a scholarship to get to the university somehow. I didn't want my parents to have to pay for school, and they said, you know, try out track. And literally just tried the 100, the 200, cross country, 400, tried everything. And then the triple jump and long jump were just very natural movements for me. I was very successful very early on, and, you know, when you're winning, you just stick with it.
At 1.88 meters with a lean athletic build, Taylor's frame is well suited to the triple jump. Though having an advantage in body type alone is no guarantee of success.
The perfect triple jumper is a combination of a lot of things. It's a combination of strength and speed. Your frame can be very different. You know, there's not a perfect height. You look at someone like Jonathan Edwards, the world record holder. You look at Kenny Harrison, different shapes, different frames, but still, you know, we're going over the 18-meter barrier. Now you have jumpers like myself and Picardo going over 18 meters. There's similarities in the body types now, but in the jumping, mechanics are very different. So I think it's, it's whoever can be the most efficient with the different variables. You need someone that's coordinated. It's not the most natural movement. Long jump, if you have someone fast and has some kind of jumping ability off one leg, you can generally put them through that. Triple jump is very special. You have to make sure that someone is okay with jumping off the same leg twice and then going to the other one. 'cause sometimes that concept, it seems easier than it actually really is. There are many people that are very hop dominant and very good at carrying that speed, but are very weak when you leave that hop phase. And so there's different things that you can kind of pick up on. You kind of want someone that's more even, someone that's not overly, you know, too fast, but someone that's not very slow because all these things, you know, are factors in getting to that big jump.
As a technically complicated sport that relies on elite speed, power, and coordination, Triple jumpers have to develop and refine their craft over years of arduous training.
It does take time. You know, triple jump is something that is, it's a maturing event. If I looked at myself when I was 18, 19, there were times that, I mean, I look at videos now and I say, how could a coach look at me and say that this could be my future? And so I've been very fortunate to have good coaches and people that were truly just patient. The run's much better. You're getting, see how you're quick right there? Mm-hmm. Myself, I have more of a 400 background. It takes me a little longer to reach the top speed, and so I'll usually have a longer approach than, you know, a lot of the short 100, 200 people with their backgrounds. I usually aim for about 38 to 40 meters in my approach, which is about 16 to 18 steps, you know, depending on wind, depending on adrenaline, depending on, you know, the different things that can happen in the competition. You have to be comfortable, and so obviously the most important thing is the last 10 meters coming off the board, and that needs, you know, that's not an acceleration phase, that's really at top top-end speed. What is the best section that you reach top-end? And that's the coach just paying attention to your running and doing all the different data and, you know, testing that you can do. There's some people that just love to study, love to know every fine detail. For me, I think you can overthink things, and I'm all about simplifying the jump, simplifying your life, you know. And so I know that it's going to take me 16 to 18 steps to hit that board. If the wind is going to play a factor, if different things, you know, are going to come into play, then Yeah, I can make changes with that, but when he's telling me that 1 centimeter off in your mid-mark could cause you to be, you know, 2 feet over a checkpoint, for me, I don't need to know that stuff. I need it to be simple, as simple as possible.
Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
I think we have a good balance. You know, I always talk about the relationship I have with my coach, and we have such a fine understanding, you know, of each other. I mean, we've been working since 2011, you know, every single day. He knows me on the track, he knows me off the track, and we know what works for each other. You know, we can give feedback, and, you know, we're not scared to say something. Having that relationship has really, really played a part with the success I've had.
