Imperial Beach’s Will Claye Wins Silver in Triple Jump at London Olympics

Updated at 9:15 a.m. Aug. 12, 2012

Will Claye of Imperial Beach made history Thursday by taking second in the triple jump at the London Olympics—becoming the first man since 1936 to win medals in both the triple jump and long jump at the Summer Games.

The most recent* was Naoto Tajima of Japan, who at the Berlin Olympics won gold in the triple jump and bronze in the long jump, according to experts at Track & Field News. The last time an American did it was Meyer Prinstein in 1904.

Team USA had a rough start Thursday with Claye and Christian Taylor fouling their first attempts, but later performances were good enough for medals.

Facing athletes from nine countries, Taylor won gold with a 17.81-meter best in London, or 58 feet, 5¼ inches. The world record is 60-0¼ by Britain’s Jonathan Edwards in 1995.

“It is awesome,” Claye said. “Me and Christian have been going 1-2 for a long time. We have a brotherhood, and jumping against your brother, you go harder than you do with anyone else. It feels like it is just me and Christian out there sometimes, you know. It is an awesome rivalry, and we definitely push each other and help each other.”

Seven inches behind Taylor was his former University of Florida teammate Claye and 35-year-old Fabrizio Donato of Italy who won the bronze. Results are here.

For his part, Taylor said: “There is just so much going on right now, but I am so blessed to share this moment with my family, my grandparents and so many people in the crowd right now. My coach Rana Reider and I have just worked tremendously hard, and to see this all come together at this time is a blessing.”

A resident of Imperial Beach, Claye grew up in Phoenix, AZ.

The 21-year-old prepared for London at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.

Claye also won a bronze medal in the long jump earlier in the week.

It was the first 1-2 American sweep of triple jump medals since Mike Conley and Charles Simpkins did the trick at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

The triple jump final was interrupted momentarily as America's Brittney Reese stood atop the podium after winning the gold in the women's long jump.

In other competition this year, Claye was the 2012 USA and world indoor triple jump champion. 

Triple jump finalists got six attempts to hop, skip and jump for a medal.

On his website, Claye said his favorite things to do when he isn't jumping are relax, listen to music and go to the beach.

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Claye’s series of jumps in the London final:

Leevan Sands of the Bahamas, who at one point was among top competitors, was injured during his fourth attempt and carried off the field on a stretcher.

*Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Naoto Tajima of Japan was the first man to win a long jump and triple jump medal in the same Olympic Games.