Photo by: Errol Anderson
Fabrice Lapierre leaps to long jump silver medal at World Championships
Aug 25, 2015 | Track and Field
BEIJING, China – A season best long jump of 27 feet, ½ inch (8.24) earned Texas A&M grad Fabrice Lapierre a silver medal Tuesday at the IAAF World Championships held in the Bird's Nest stadium. It's the second world championship medal for the 31-year-old Australian, who claimed gold at the 2010 World Indoor meet.
"It's just a big relief, more than anything," noted Lapierre. "I was always secretly thinking I may get a medal, maybe even gold. I came here and accomplished my goal. I proved to myself I'm back in the shape I was in when I won gold in 2010."
In warm-up for the long jump final Lapierre wasn't certain his hamstrings would hold up through the competition.
"I thought, 'Here we go again, not another final where I hurt my hamstring'," said Lapierre. "And it hurt, I was in agonizing pain. After the first round I was still in sheer pain. I was going to give up, but I decided to try again.
"My first jump was a foul and I noticed a couple of the guys were struggling on the runway. I thought if I could get one jump, just one jump may get me into the top eight."
In the second round Lapierre reached a mark of 25-9 ¼ (7.85) and in round three he improved to 26-7 (8.10), which moved him from seventh to fourth place.
"When I got 26-7 in my third round and a couple of others were knocked out, I knew I had to go for it regardless of any pain," noted Lapierre. "My mentality changed. My adrenalin kicked in and it took the pain away as much as it could. I was just running on pure adrenalin."
As the field was trimmed from 12 to eight jumpers following the third round, Lapierre's fourth attempt resulted in another foul. He flew down the runway, but was unable to initiate a jump and ran through the sandpit. His speed on the runway, though, gave him hope of things to come in the final two rounds.
"Once I had that foul, coach Dan Pfaff said, 'That's the best run you've done all day and you were two feet in front of your check mark'. That meant I was moving down the runway. So that gave me confidence. I realized I could still run and my hamstring wasn't all the way torn yet."
A leap of 26-11 (8.20) was the result Lapierre desired in round five as it moved him into second place. Then an improvement to 27-0 ½ (8.24) in the final round secured his hold on the silver medal position.
"I can't believe I pulled that out," said Lapierre. "If I'm motivated on a day I can jump more, I thrive off coming from behind. I like the pressure."
Lapierre's training partner, Great Britain's Greg Rutherford, won the long jump gold with a 27-7 ¼ (8.41) leap. With the World title, Rutherford completed a cycle of Olympic (2012), European (2014) and Commonwealth (2014) titles over the past four years. Finishing in third place was China's Wang Jianan with a mark of 26-10 (8.18).
A NCAA champion for the Aggies in 2005, Lapierre's previous best finish at the World Outdoor Championship was fourth place in 2009. Following his World Indoor title in 2010, hamstring injuries hampered his efforts in 2011 and during the 2012 Olympic year. Taking off the 2014 season to fully heal, Lapierre moved to Arizona to train with Dan Pfaff and resumed competition this year.
Lapierre matched the silver medal effort of Australian Mitch Watt from the 2011 World Championships. Aussie long jumpers have also collected four Olympic silver medals in the event with Watt (2012), Jai Taurema (2000), Gary Honey (1984) and Theo Bruce (1948).
Wednesday's action in the Bird's Nest stadium will include Texas A&M sophomore Shamier Little contesting the final of the 400 hurdles at 7:10 a.m. CT. Aggie junior Latario Collie competes in the qualifying round of the men's triple jump while A&M grad Jeneba Tarmoh runs in the preliminary round of the women's 200 meters.
A World Junior champion in 2014, Little became the first female 400m hurdler in 20 years to medal in the World Junior Championships and advance to the final of the World Championships the following year. In accomplishing the feat Little joined Romania's Ionela Tirlea, who won the 1994 World Junior title and placed seventh in the 1995 World Championships.
SCHEDULE – 2015 World Championships – Beijing, China
AUGUST 26
Beijing Central Time Gender Event Round Aggie Entry
09:30 20:30 (25 Aug) W Hammer Throw Qualification Group A
09:35 20:35 (25 Aug) M 5000 Meters Heats
10:00 21:00 (25 Aug) M Triple Jump Qualification Latario Collie
10:25 21:25 (25 Aug) W 800 Meters Heats
10:55 21:55 (25 Aug) W Hammer Throw Qualification Group B
11:20 22:20 (25 Aug) M 110 Meters Hurdles Heats
AFTERNOON SESSION
19:00 06:00 W Pole Vault Final
19:05 06:05 M Javelin Throw Final
19:15 06:15 W 200 Meters Heats Jeneba Tarmoh
20:10 07:10 W 400 Meters Hurdles Final Shamier Little
20:30 07:30 M 200 Meters Semi-Final
21:00 08:00 W 3000 Meters Steeplechase Final
21:25 08:25 M 400 Meters Final
"It's just a big relief, more than anything," noted Lapierre. "I was always secretly thinking I may get a medal, maybe even gold. I came here and accomplished my goal. I proved to myself I'm back in the shape I was in when I won gold in 2010."
In warm-up for the long jump final Lapierre wasn't certain his hamstrings would hold up through the competition.
"I thought, 'Here we go again, not another final where I hurt my hamstring'," said Lapierre. "And it hurt, I was in agonizing pain. After the first round I was still in sheer pain. I was going to give up, but I decided to try again.
"My first jump was a foul and I noticed a couple of the guys were struggling on the runway. I thought if I could get one jump, just one jump may get me into the top eight."
In the second round Lapierre reached a mark of 25-9 ¼ (7.85) and in round three he improved to 26-7 (8.10), which moved him from seventh to fourth place.
"When I got 26-7 in my third round and a couple of others were knocked out, I knew I had to go for it regardless of any pain," noted Lapierre. "My mentality changed. My adrenalin kicked in and it took the pain away as much as it could. I was just running on pure adrenalin."
As the field was trimmed from 12 to eight jumpers following the third round, Lapierre's fourth attempt resulted in another foul. He flew down the runway, but was unable to initiate a jump and ran through the sandpit. His speed on the runway, though, gave him hope of things to come in the final two rounds.
"Once I had that foul, coach Dan Pfaff said, 'That's the best run you've done all day and you were two feet in front of your check mark'. That meant I was moving down the runway. So that gave me confidence. I realized I could still run and my hamstring wasn't all the way torn yet."
A leap of 26-11 (8.20) was the result Lapierre desired in round five as it moved him into second place. Then an improvement to 27-0 ½ (8.24) in the final round secured his hold on the silver medal position.
"I can't believe I pulled that out," said Lapierre. "If I'm motivated on a day I can jump more, I thrive off coming from behind. I like the pressure."
Lapierre's training partner, Great Britain's Greg Rutherford, won the long jump gold with a 27-7 ¼ (8.41) leap. With the World title, Rutherford completed a cycle of Olympic (2012), European (2014) and Commonwealth (2014) titles over the past four years. Finishing in third place was China's Wang Jianan with a mark of 26-10 (8.18).
A NCAA champion for the Aggies in 2005, Lapierre's previous best finish at the World Outdoor Championship was fourth place in 2009. Following his World Indoor title in 2010, hamstring injuries hampered his efforts in 2011 and during the 2012 Olympic year. Taking off the 2014 season to fully heal, Lapierre moved to Arizona to train with Dan Pfaff and resumed competition this year.
Lapierre matched the silver medal effort of Australian Mitch Watt from the 2011 World Championships. Aussie long jumpers have also collected four Olympic silver medals in the event with Watt (2012), Jai Taurema (2000), Gary Honey (1984) and Theo Bruce (1948).
Wednesday's action in the Bird's Nest stadium will include Texas A&M sophomore Shamier Little contesting the final of the 400 hurdles at 7:10 a.m. CT. Aggie junior Latario Collie competes in the qualifying round of the men's triple jump while A&M grad Jeneba Tarmoh runs in the preliminary round of the women's 200 meters.
A World Junior champion in 2014, Little became the first female 400m hurdler in 20 years to medal in the World Junior Championships and advance to the final of the World Championships the following year. In accomplishing the feat Little joined Romania's Ionela Tirlea, who won the 1994 World Junior title and placed seventh in the 1995 World Championships.
SCHEDULE – 2015 World Championships – Beijing, China
AUGUST 26
Beijing Central Time Gender Event Round Aggie Entry
09:30 20:30 (25 Aug) W Hammer Throw Qualification Group A
09:35 20:35 (25 Aug) M 5000 Meters Heats
10:00 21:00 (25 Aug) M Triple Jump Qualification Latario Collie
10:25 21:25 (25 Aug) W 800 Meters Heats
10:55 21:55 (25 Aug) W Hammer Throw Qualification Group B
11:20 22:20 (25 Aug) M 110 Meters Hurdles Heats
AFTERNOON SESSION
19:00 06:00 W Pole Vault Final
19:05 06:05 M Javelin Throw Final
19:15 06:15 W 200 Meters Heats Jeneba Tarmoh
20:10 07:10 W 400 Meters Hurdles Final Shamier Little
20:30 07:30 M 200 Meters Semi-Final
21:00 08:00 W 3000 Meters Steeplechase Final
21:25 08:25 M 400 Meters Final
Players Mentioned
Jumps
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