Christian leaps to Taylor-made jump

Bolt cruises into 200M semis

Christian Taylor defended his Olympics triple jump gold with a measure of comfort on Tuesday but his dream of a world record remained unfulfilled.

Taylor leapt to 17.86 metres in the first round and none of his rivals could come close to it. His compatriot Will Claye, the silver medallist from London, repeated that feat with a 17.76 while Bin Dong of China took the bronze at 17.58.

Taylor had expressed his desire to attack Jonathan Edwards’ world record of 18.29 metres. And after his big first round jump, the American went after that but could not come close. He did 17.77 two times and fouled his other three jumps, struggling under the hot morning sun.

“I am a night person, so jumping in the morning was hard. But I wanted it so much; so the stars aligned. I wanted the world record too but that was not to be. I will keep pushing for it,” said the 26-year-old.

Claye later caught the love bug sweeping the Games when he dropped to one knee to propose to his girlfriend.

The love-struck Romeo leapt into the stands after taking silver to pop the question to hurdler Queen Harrison, watching on in a "Willpower" T-shirt.

"The ring was in my backpack. I've had it for a little while and it was just a matter of when it would happen," said Claye.

"Win, lose or draw I felt it had to happen today. I was a little slick and she didn't have any clue. She just burst into tears. It was a heart-felt moment for us."

Meanwhile, Usain Bolt was on track for the first round of the 200 metres and cruised into the semifinals. The Jamaican established early control and eased up nearing the line, still winning in 20.28 seconds. His main rivals, Justin Gatlin (20.42) and LaShawn Merritt (20.15), also qualified.

Result: Men’s triple jump: Christian Taylor (United States) 17.86 metres, 1; Will Claye (United States) 17.76, 2; Bin Dong (China) 17.58, 3.