Athletics at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games:

This was the first Olympic triple jump for women. They had competed in the event at the European Championships in 1994 and the World Championships in 1993 and 1995, and the IAAF had recognized a world record since 1991. Inesa Kravets had set the first IAAF-ratified world record in 1991, had won the 1995 World Championship, and held the current world record, set in 1995 with 15.50 (50-10¼). But the most consistent jumper in 1996 had been the Russian Inna Lasovskaya. In the second round Lasovskaya took the lead with 14.98 (49-1¾), a mark equaled in round three by Šárka Kašpárková (CZE). After four rounds, Kravets stood in third place, but she leaped 15.33 (50-3½) to win the first Olympic triple jump gold medal.