Irving is pictured above during the final of the mens Long Jump at
the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. Saladino had been leading the
field from the third round onwards only to see Andrew Howe produce a
leap of 8.47m on his 6th and final attempt to take the lead by just 1cm.
The American born Italian's wild celebrations perhaps made Irving all
the more determined and he responded in truly memorable fashion to win
the gold medal with a South American record jump of 8.57m. Saladino
later commented:
"Howe's last jump fired me up and gave me extra energy.
Then when I nailed my last one it felt like I was having an out of body
experience. I'm so proud to win gold for Panama. That was the biggest
jump of my life." |