Commonwealth triple jumper Emmanuel Fakiye on Crossing the Line, Tuesday 17 July

Emmanuel Fakiye at UTS.

With an older brother in the top eight sprinters in Australia, Emmanuel Fakiye was destined to be athletic. But after driving three hours to Canberra to watch his brother run for 10 seconds, he decided sprinting wasn’t for him. Instead, Emmanuel became a triple jumper, combining his love of physics with his love of sport to excel in the required combination of speed, technique and power.

This year, Emmanuel represented Australia in triple jump at the Commonwealth Games, and is now eyeing up the 2019 Athletics World Championships and the 2020 Olympics. He combines his intense training schedule with studying for an electrical engineering degree at UTS.

Emmanuel talks to GT about the beauty of triple jump, how he juggles study and training, and the music that helps him focus when he competes.