| Events at the 1997 World Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Track events | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 800 m | men | women |
| 1500 m | men | women |
| 5000 m | men | women |
| 10,000 m | men | women |
| 100 m hurdles | women | |
| 110 m hurdles | men | |
| 400 m hurdles | men | women |
| 3000 m steeplechase | men | |
| 4 × 100 m relay | men | women |
| 4 × 400 m relay | men | women |
| Road events | ||
| Marathon | men | women |
| 10 km walk | women | |
| 20 km walk | men | |
| 50 km walk | men | |
| Field events | ||
| High jump | men | women |
| Pole vault | men | |
| Long jump | men | women |
| Triple jump | men | women |
| Shot put | men | women |
| Discus throw | men | women |
| Hammer throw | men | |
| Javelin throw | men | women |
| Combined events | ||
| Heptathlon | women | |
| Decathlon | men | |
These are the official results of the Men's triple jump event at the 1997 IAAF World Championships in Athens, Greece. There were a total number of 40 participating athletes, with two qualifying groups and the final held on Friday 1997-08-08.
The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit. The triple jump was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games and has been a modern Olympics event since the Games' inception in 1896.
The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between August 1 and August 10, 1997. In this event participated 1882 athletes from 198 participant nations. Athens used the successful organization of the World Championships the next month during the IOC Session in Lausanne during its campaign to host the 2004 Summer Olympics as proof positive of Athens' and Greece's ability and readiness to organize large-scale, international sporting events.
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With the previous two major championships resulting in 18 metre jumps, expectations were high. All medalists from those championships made it into the finals. In addition to world record holder Jonathan Edwards and Olympic champion Kenny Harrison, there were three more athletes who had jumped beyond 17.70m
Jonathan David Edwards, is a British former triple jumper. He is an Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European champion, and has held the world record in the event since 1995.
Kenny Harrison is a former track and field athlete competing in triple jump.
Edwards was the first to get over 17m in the first round with a 17.33m. Near the end of the round, Yoelbi Quesada took the lead with a 17.60m and his Cuban teammate Aliecer Urrutia followed up with a 17.23m. At the end of the second round Quesada had his best jump of the day, a personal best of 17.85 m (58 ft 6 3⁄4 in) and Urrutia moved into second place with his best 17.64m. After two round, Harrison only had a 17.05 to his credit, more than a metre less than his winning jump in Atlanta. Just before his final preliminary attempt he saw Christos Meletoglou put out a 17.12 to move into the eighth qualifying position, but next on the runway, Harrison could only make 17.04m and wouldn't be a player in the medals.
Yoelbi Luis Quesada Fernández is a Cuban athlete competing mostly in triple jump.
Aliecer Urrutia Delgado is a retired male triple jumper from Cuba. Having set a personal best of 17.70 in 1996, he won a silver medal at the 1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships and a bronze medal at the 1997 World Championships. He is a former world indoor record holder with a mark of 17.83 metres. Urrutia retired after the 2002 season.
In the fourth round, Edwards' 17.66m put him back into second place. On his final attempt he improved to 17.69m but couldn't overtake Quesada.
