Portugal's Pichardo sails through triple jump qualifiers

PARIS : Portugal's Pedro Pichardo looked casual in a backward cap as he cruised through triple jump qualifiers, ready to defend his Olympic gold in Friday's final against challengers including Spain's Jordan Diaz and Burkina Faso's Hugues Fabrice Zango.

Pichardo leapt 17.44 metres on his first attempt, the best jump of the night and easily clearing the 17.10 qualifying standard.

Diaz had a confident start too on his Olympic debut, kicking off with a 17.24 jump. The 23-year-old, who was born in Cuba but moved to Spain to train and became a national, holds the world lead this year and looks to be the biggest threat to Pichardo.

Diaz leapt 18.18 metres, the third best jump of all time and just 11cm short of the world record, in Rome in June - beating Pichardo's 18.04 at the same event.

Both Zango and the United States' Salif Mane jumped 17.16 to book their places in the final on their first attempts. Zango became his country's first Olympic medallist when he won bronze in Tokyo.

"I have to keep my concentration for Friday because it will be a great day," Zango said after qualifying. "I am in condition to win. You will see on Friday."

Athletes had to jump at least 17.10 metres, or be among the 12 best performers to move on to the final set for Friday at 8:13 p.m. local time (1813 GMT).