Yargelis Savigne successfully defended her triple jump world title yesterday and Cuban teammate Mabel Gay picked up the silver.

Already leading after three rounds, Savigne took the title with her best jump of 14.95 metres on her fifth attempt. Gay finished second with a jump of 14.61 and Anna Pyatykh of Russia took bronze with result of 14.58.

"I am very satisfied," Savigne said. "At the beginning, I lacked coordination and was really nervous, but I told myself to stay focused on the result."

Her best attempt yesterday was far short of the 15.28 she jumped to win the title two years ago, but she wasn't bothered by it.

"I think I could have jumped more than 15 metres, but the most important thing here was to win the championship," Savigne said.

Her victory also provided a bit of consolation after a disappointing fifth-place finish at last year's Beijing Olympics.

No surprise

While Savigne's gold in Berlin comes as no surprise - especially with two-time Olympic champion Françoise Mbango Etone of Cameroon pulling out of qualifying - Gay's silver came out of nowhere.

The 26-year-old Cuban had never medalled at a major event and didn't event make it into the final round at last year's Olympics. But on her fourth attempt, she jumped 14.61 to better Pyatkyh's 14.58 and move into second place.

"This medal was a surprise," Gay said. "I am very happy. I thought that with my jump I was not going to be able to get the medal."