Israeli triple jumper wins silver at European Championships
A month before 2016 Olympics, Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko takes second with 14.51m jump
Israeli triple-jump champion Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko on Sunday won a silver medal at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam.
Knyazyeva-Minenko, who placed second at the last world championships and fourth at the 2012 Olympics, snagged second place with a final jump result of 14.51 meters.
Portugal’s Patricia Mamona’s final effort of 14.58 meters sealed the victory from the Ukraine-born Knyazyeva-Minenko by seven centimeters.
Last August, Knyazyeva-Minenko came in second place at the 15th World Championships in China, setting a national record of 14.78 meters on her second attempt.
Her performance at the 2015 games made Knyazyeva-Minenko the first Israeli woman and second Israeli athlete to ever win a silver at the event, after pole-vaulter Aleksandr Averbukh 14 years ago.
The 25-year-old Israeli champion moved to Israel from Ukraine in 2013, switching over from the Ukrainiain national team. According to Knyazyeva-Minenko, she moved not to boost her athletics prospects, but because she had fallen in love with an Israeli, Anatoli Minenko, whom she has since married.
Knyazyeva-Minenko will represent Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
AFP contributed to this report.