The triple jump is an athletics (track and field) event, previously also known as the "hop, step and jump", whose various names describe the actions a competitor takes. The athlete runs down a straight runway until he reaches a designated mark, from which the jump is measured. The takeoff mark is a board, and in modern championships a strip of plasticine is embedded in front of the board to record athletes overstepping the mark. The first landing has to be done with the takeoff foot. The next phase is a step, landing on the opposite foot, and is followed by the jump, into a sand-filled box, as in the long jump. A "foul" or missed jump occurs when a jumper oversteps the launch mark (most commonly), misses the pit entirely, or does not perform the attempt in the allotted amount of time (usually around one minute).
