Triple jumper performs ‘dead salmon’ routine after attempt goes badly wrong

On Aug 18, 2022

Swedish athlete Jesper Hellstrom styled out his failed long jump attempt at the European Athletics Championships by pretending to be a dead salmon.

Nothing looked fishy about the 27-year-old’s effort as he set off on his run towards the first triple jump mark. But he appeared to land off balance on his ‘step’ and provided fans with a hilarious conclusion to his second attempt.

Instead of sticking the landing with his feet, Hellstrom turned his body mid-air to proper himself towards the sand before going limp and crashing to the floor like a dead salmon. After landing, the two-time national champion raised his hands in the air as the cameras flipped onto his coach in the stands.

He – along with millions of people watching around the world – saw the funny side of Hellstrom’s failed attempt as the commentators also made light of his effort.

“It’s not what the coach was looking for,” the BBC commentator said as he struggled to contain his laughter. “Maybe that’s why he has those protective sleeves. Not what he was planning to do there. Forward rotation; the enemy of horizontal jumpers.”

What’s the best athletics fail you’ve ever seen? Let us know in the comments section below.

Hellstrom quickly realised that his effort had gone wrong
(Image: BBC)

He put his hands in the air after hitting the deck to the delight of the crowd
(Image: BBC)

Twitter users loved Hellstrom’s dead salmon impression and flooded the social media site with tweets praising his effort. One wrote: “Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s Sweden’s Jesper Hellstrom in the triple jump. Brilliant.”

As another said: “Sweden’s triple jump was the best I’ve ever seen omg, guy was like a flying burrito!” A third user commented: “This is one of the best things I’ve seen in a while. Gets better with each subsequent viewing.”

While a fourth added: “Full marks to Jesper Hellstrom for doing the salmon in the triple jump final.. Someone else chimed in: “Jesper Hellstrom is my new favourite athlete at these games.”

We’ll drink to that.

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