CWG silver medalist Abdulla Aboobacker takes the triple jump gold in Japan

India's Abdulla Aboobacker, a 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games silver medalist in triple jumping, took gold in the Mikio Oda Memorial Athletics competition in Hiroshima, Japan, on Saturday. He produced a season-best jump of 16.31m to clinch the win.

The Mikio Oda Memorial Athletics Meet is an annual event organized in Japan to honor Mikio Oda. He was a renowned Japanese track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the triple jump at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

The Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) organized the event, which was first staged in 1986. It is a bronze-level World Athletics competition.

Aboobacker, a Kerala native, has a personal best of 17.19m. With a leap of 17.02m, he finished second behind Eldhose Paul in the 2022 CWG.

One of the many accomplished Indian athletes currently active, Abdulla Aboobacker has been a consistently hard-working and successful triple jumper. The 27-year-old bagged a silver medal for the triple jump event with a distance of 17.02 m (55.8 ft) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Aboobacker in action [File Photo]

Eldhose Paul is the first triple jumper from India to make it through to the finals of the triple jump event at the World Athletics Championships. Now, Abdulla Aboobacker is emerging as another noteworthy competitor in this event from the country.

Paul was a huge source of inspiration for Abdulla as the former became the first-ever CWG gold medalist for India in the men’s triple jump event at the 2022 Birmingham edition.

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Abdulla Aboobacker set to reach greater hights

Aboobacker has been dominating the home triple jump scene for quite some time. In September 2019, he won gold at the Indian Military Services Championships in Pune. He then won to win silver at the Indian Open Championships in Ranchi.

His stature continued to rise after that, as he won silver at the Federation Cup Championships in Patiala. In that event, he nearly broke the 17m barrier.

Aboobacker made his debut on May 21, 2022, at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar by winning the gold medal in the men's triple jump by leaping 17.19m at the Indian Grand Prix, helping him qualify for the World Athletics Championships. Along with Karthik U, he became the first Indian to cross the 17m mark.