The competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit.

"[1] The male world record holder is Jonathan Edwards of the United Kingdom, with a jump of 18.29 m (60 ft 0 in).

Historical sources on the ancient Olympic Games occasionally mention jumps of 15 metres or more.

[2] However, there is no evidence for the triple jump being included in the ancient Olympic Games, and the recorded extraordinary distances may be due to the artistic license of the authors of victory poems, rather than attempts to report accurate results.

The hop landing also marks the beginning of the step phase, where the athlete utilizes the backward momentum of the right leg to immediately execute a powerful jump forward and upwards, the left leg assisting the take-off with a hip flexion thrust similar to a bounding motion.

The jumper then holds this position for as long as possible, before extending the knee of the leading left leg and then immediately beginning a powerful backward motion of the whole left leg, again landing on the runway with a powerful backward pawing action.

The drive leg extends with a flexed ankle and snaps downward for a quick transition into the jump phase.

The athlete tries to take the farthest step they can while maintaining balance and control, using techniques such as pulling their leg up as high as possible.

The step landing forms the take-off of the final phase (the jump), where the athlete utilizes the backward force from the left leg to take off again.

The IAAF changed the rules following outrage at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow when Soviet field officials in the Men's Triple Jump ruled as foul eight of the twelve jumps made by two leading competitors (from Brazil and Australia) thus helping two Soviet jumpers win the gold and silver medals.