A year removed from Achilles tear, Christian Taylor easing back into competition

Christian Taylor is working his way back to competition.

The two-time Olympic triple jump champion, who also won four golds at the world championships, suffered an Achilles tendon rupture in May 2021 that prevented him from taking part in a third Olympic Games last summer in Tokyo.

Thursday (2 June), he competed in his second event of 2022 at the meeting in Montreuil, a Parisian suburb. Though he bettered the 15.91 he posted last month in Puerto Rico, Taylor's 16.11m effort was well short of the podium.

Instead, Cuba's Lázaro Martínez took the top jumping 17.30m, a personal best.

As Taylor works his way into form, hindsight has helped him see the injury in a positive light.

"It's maybe the best thing, or second best thing, that has happened in my career, I've really grown so much from this," Taylor said, according to the AFP. "The joy of track I've found again. To rediscover what I'm doing this for is for me the greatest joy. Now I get to start over and jump in a sand box and there's no better job!"