Aiming for a double in the triple

When he took gold at the 2015 world championships with an enormous leap of 18.21m, Olympic champion Christian Taylor moved a step closer to breaking the fabled triple jump world record (18.29m), held by Great Britain's Jonathan Edwards since 1995.

"I'm so close to it, and I would hate to end my career and be so close and not take it," the 26-year-old admits. "It's been 20 years since the record has stood. At the Olympic Games, why not make it something the viewers can remember?"

Gold medallist at London 2012 (17.81m) and a 2-time world champion (2011, 2015), Taylor is bidding to become the first triple jumper to win at successive Games since the legendary Soviet Viktor Saneyev (1968-1972-1976).