Jamaican athlete, Jaydon Hibbert, has broken the World Under-20 Championship record and the Jamaican national junior and senior record. The 18-year-old freshman Razorback at Arkansas State University accomplished the feat by jumping 17.54m in a single bound that was his first attempt, during the men’s triple jump.

The win came on the last day of the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships held in Albuquerque, NM on March 11, 2023.  The jump broke the previous championship record of 17.50m set in 1986 by Charleston Southern University’s Charlie Simpkins. The jump represented a new personal best for Hibbert, who has been named 2023 SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year. The honor makes him the third University of Arkansas student to receive the honor since it was first presented in 2004.

The track and field standout is no stranger to greatness. He has an impressive and distinguished list of gold and silver wins, going undefeated in his event during the 2022 season. After graduating from Kingston College High School, he went on to win the 2021 World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi. In 2022, Hibbert won the senior triple jump title at the Jamaican National Championships in Kingston, going up against athletes several years his senior

Hibbert won in the long jump and triple jump at the 2022 CARIFTA Games. In a single jump, he broke the championship record at the 2022 IAAF World Junior Championships in Cali, Colombia. That jump put him in second place on the all-time under-18 list. He’ll still be young enough to compete at the 2024 World U-2 Championships where he has the potential to be the first to win back-to-back triple jump titles.

Hibbert’s natural talent and determination to excel is a tribute to his determination and his country. With his wins and meteoric rise in the rankings, Hibbert is well on his way to making more history on the field in the future.

Photo –  Jaydon Hibbert