World Athletcs Championships 2017: Lapierre leaps into long jump finals in London

Australian long jumper Fabrice Lapierre advanced to the final round of the 16th IAAF World Championships at London Stadium with a mark of 7.91m (w: +0.6) on his second attempt on Friday.

After recording an opening jump of 7.67m (w: -0.3), the reigning Diamond League champion slipped into the finals after besting Bermuda’s Tyrone Smith and fellow Aussie Henry Frayne by three-quarters of an inch (1.9cm) to secure the 12th and final qualifying spot.

“The first one was just getting used to the runway, and the second one I went for the qualifier,” explained the 33-year-old Lapierre. “I think I would have got there had I hit the board, I didn’t hit the board on any of my attempts tonight, and if tomorrow I can do that then I’m in the mix for a medal.”

The Beijing 2015 silver medallist faced an anxious wait before advancing after Olympic champion Jeffery Henderson (USA) was unable to improve on his best mark of 7.84m, which left the American in 17th place.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking waiting, once I saw Jeff go up I thought I was no chance but I managed to sneak in,” admitted Lapierre. “I just can’t wait to come back tomorrow.

“The crowd is awesome.”

The two-time Olympian is competing in his fifth outdoor world championships, and he is no stranger to producing medal performances in the final.

“Qualifying is the hardest,” said Lapierre. “The last world champs I snuck into the final as well, in 11th place, and then I earned a silver medal.”

The long jump final starts at 8:05pm BST on Saturday (5:05am AEST) for Lapierre.

White the Mauritian-born US resident recorded a wind-assisted 8.50m (w: +4.4) effort at the Austin Longhorn Invitational in April, his personal unassisted best is 8.40m — a mark he told Eurosport he’ll have to come close to matching for medal contention in a field where eight jumpers managed to better the automatic qualifying mark of 8.05m, including Radek Juska (CZE) with a 8.24m jump.

“I’m feeling relaxed heading into tonight’s final,” claimed Lapierre. “I pulled up OK after the qualifying round and I’m looking forward to the final.

“I believe I will need to jump over 8.30m today in order to be in the medal hunt.”