World Indoor Tour Gold Madrid: 5 Years After Retirement, 34-Year-Old Track and Field Athlete Makes a Comeback

After the US soil collected global accolades, the Spanish soil was reluctant to stay behind. So, as the USATF Indoors concluded, virtual spectators have now shifted their attention to the World Indoor Tour Gold Madrid. Scheduled for the 23rd of February, the one-day event will be enough to look in the eye of the upcoming stellar event line-up.

Before the Olympics rolls in, the track and field athletes are in a mood to get into shape. And nothing better than the later February event to do so. But this Spanish event will also be the perfect opportunity for a comeback. Having said so, we already have somebody in line.

Track and field athlete back on the run

Teddy Tamgho, specializing in long jump and triple jump, has made waves like no other track athlete in Kenya. It’s been almost five years since the 34-year-old has stepped into retirement. But rather than enjoying some time away from the track, he has planned on his Olympic entry this year. Owen M’s X post reads, “Teddy Tamgho is back. The 2013 triple jump World Champion will be in action for the first time in 5 years at the World Indoor Tour Gold meet in Madrid this Friday”. To be specific, on March 31, 2023, Tamgho issued that he was all geared up to get back to his usual form. “I think it’s time, high time to put the spikes back on. “High time to prepare for Paris 2024”. 

The overall triple jump winner has been practicing without competing. But as his words go, “Training without competing is an incomplete training so let s go parcerito !“, his comeback plans are set. But what may be the reason behind his resurgence?

If health permits, how can anything come in the way?

When he made track and field headlines in March 2023, he had said, “I’ve trained… and by testing myself for some time, I realised that the legs were still ready, ready to jump far, ready to win THE medal (the only one I’m looking for)”. Always training under a “simple protocol,” Tamgho boasts of a stellar career that goes beyond wins.

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His chances at the 2012 London Olympics were extinguished in the wake of a right ankle operation. Hesitant to give up, he returned after almost two years in 2013 to win the 2013 World Championships men’s triple jump. Now, since it’s already time for the Paris Olympics, will the former world indoor record holder be able to make his first mark at the World Indoor Tour Gold? Will he be able to disregard his anti-doping suspension traumas and win? Everything’s a matter of time.

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