Olympics-Athletics-Spain's Diaz unseats champion to win triple jump gold

By Helen Reid

PARIS (Reuters) -Spain's Jordan Diaz won gold in the men's triple jump on Friday, securing his country's first ever Olympic medal in the event by defeating defending champion Pedro Pichardo of Portugal who had to settle for silver.

Pichardo and Diaz were neck-and-neck after two attempts, with Diaz jumping 17.86 metres, two centimetres ahead of his rival.

Pichardo thought he had beaten the Spaniard with his last attempt, but when the result came out - 17.81m - he threw himself to the ground in disappointment.

It was a stunning Olympic debut for the 23-year-old Diaz who shook the sport this year by leaping 18.18m in June, the third best jump of all time and only 11cm short of the world record.

"I've had this dream since I was a child," said Diaz, who was born in Cuba but moved to Spain to train and got citizenship. "I'm so happy, and I also need a holiday right now."

Pichardo, meanwhile, said he made mistakes during the final and paid for it.

"I'm not very motivated to keep going, I'm going to think about it," the 31-year-old told reporters.

Italy's Andy Diaz Hernandez, who is also originally Cuban but took Italian nationality, won bronze with a 17.64m jump.

"I am very happy, because it is the first time I've competed in the Italian jersey, for the Italian flag. I had promised all Italians to take a medal, and for this first time, I made it," he said.

Burkina Faso's Hugues Fabrice Zango, bronze medallist in Tokyo, finished fifth with a best effort of 17.50, while Jamaica's Jaydon Hibbert came fourth with 17.61 in an impressive result for the 19-year-old.

Brazil's Almir dos Santos finished 11th but still ended his Olympic run on a memorable note, falling to one knee to propose to his girlfriend in front of the crowd.

(Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Ed Osmond)