SWEDISH athlete Jesper Hellstrom did his best salmon impression during Wednesday’s triple jump final at the European Championships in Germany.
The 27-year-old may not have claimed a medal, but he proved to be one of the major talking points at the Olympiastadion.
A surprise finalist, Hellstrom narrowly qualified having taken the final spot with a jump 16.07 metres.
He started off with a cautious first jump of 16:02, before he got his second attempt all wrong in comedic fashion.
Having over-rotated, Hellstrom lost his balance and ended up diving head first into the sand.
Showing off his best salmon and seal dive impression, the Swede could be seen laughing during his jump as he left the crowd in stitches.
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A third jump saw him reach 16.23 metres, but it wasn’t enough to make the cut as he finished the final in tenth spot.
Speaking after the final of his hilarious second jump, Hellstrom joked: “I thought quite immediately afterwards, ‘I wonder if there will be any funny pictures from this.'”
It wasn’t just Hellstrom that found the funny side, as BBC viewers were loving it as they took to social media to comment on his jump.
One user tweeted: “Jesper Hellstrom is my new favourite athlete at these games.”
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Another said: “Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s Sweden’s Jesper Hellstrom in the triple jump. Brilliant.”
A third added: “Full marks to Jesper Hellstrom for doing the salmon in the triple jump final.”
This person then remarked: “This made me laugh out loud when watching it live on TV.”
Meanwhile another messaged: “Brilliant! You’ve made my day Jesper Hellstrom.”
One then simply stated: “My new favourite athlete.”
This viewer posted: “Not his longest jump no doubt, but certainly his most memorable!”
Source: Athletics - thesun.co.uk
