2026 European Athletics Championships: Andy Diaz Triumphs, Coming Close to the World Record
Andy Diaz delivered a world-class performance and won the gold medal in the triple jump at the European Championships in Birmingham with a sensational 18.15. This distance confirms the Italian’s clear superiority over his great rival, Pedro Pichardo—born in Cuba and now representing Portugal—who finished in second place with a jump of 17.76.
Rounding out the Italian celebration is Andrea Dallavalle, who took bronze with a jump of 17.37, marking yet another Italian one-two finish at this edition of the continental championships. The other Italian in the competition, Simone Biasutti, was forced to withdraw after sustaining an injury during his first jump.
Diaz, coached by former specialist Fabrizio Donato, began the competition with a jump that actually exceeded the world record mark but was ruled a foul by a mere three centimeters. On his second attempt came the masterpiece: 18.15, a new Italian record and an improvement over the 17.87 he achieved just a few weeks ago at the Italian National Championships. The Italian then posted an excellent 17.78 before opting out of his fourth jump and finishing with two fouls. This result is even more significant given the weather conditions, with a temperature of about 15 degrees and a particularly cold evening.
For Diaz, this is his first outdoor European medal, following the gold he won at the 2025 European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn. His 18.15 also moves him into fourth place on the all-time world rankings, just 14 centimeters shy of Jonathan Edwards’ legendary world record—that 18.29 set in 1995, which the Italian has repeatedly cited as the ultimate goal of his career. And that world record suddenly seemed within reach as early as his first jump, when Díaz came within a hair’s breadth of a historic mark before recording a millimeter-narrow foul.
The Italian athlete, fresh off two consecutive indoor world titles (in Nanjing in 2025 and in Toruń in 2026), can now continue the season with even greater ambitions. His sights remain set on the world record and the Diamond League, a competition Díaz aims to win for the third consecutive time.
