“How are We Going to Recover”: Olympian Speaks Out Against Track and Field Body Over Schedule

Jaydon Hibbert knows how difficult it can be to return to top form after an injury. The Jamaican triple jumper finished fourth at the Paris 2024 Olympics, just three centimetres short of bronze, while dealing with a torn meniscus. He later underwent surgery and missed the entire 2025 season before returning to competition in 2026. Now, as he prepares for another season, Hibbert has a new concern: the Diamond League schedule and the limited time athletes may have to recover between competitions.

“How are we going to recover and come with better performances if we choose to go to all, cause we have to go to all, there’s only four?” Hibbert asked, as shared by Owen on X on October 9, questioning the way events have been distributed across the 2027 Diamond League calendar. The men’s triple jump is scheduled at just four meetings, with three taking place within 12 days.

The schedule begins in Xiamen, China, on May 22, before moving to Rome, Italy, on May 27 and Oslo, Norway, on June 3. That would require Hibbert and other triple jumpers to travel from China to Europe within days, leaving limited time between competitions to recover, train, and prepare for their next appearance.

The problem, Hibbert points out, is that athletes have only four opportunities to compete in their discipline. Skipping one meeting to allow more recovery time could mean giving up a valuable chance to earn Diamond League points. Competing at all four, meanwhile, means facing a demanding early-season schedule with little room to rest between the first three events.

After Oslo on June 3, the men’s triple jump will not feature again until Brussels on August 20. That leaves a 78-day gap between meetings, creating another challenge for athletes trying to maintain their form throughout the season. Hibbert described the wait as “really hard.” However, this uneven distribution of events is not limited to the men’s triple jump.

The women’s javelin throw faces a similar situation, with its fourth scheduled competition taking place in Oslo on June 3, followed by a long wait for the Diamond League Final in Zurich on August 25 and 26. For athletes, the challenge is not simply about competing on consecutive dates. Triple jumping places considerable demands on the body, requiring power, speed, and control through the hop, step, and jump. 

With so little room between early-season meets, Hibbert’s question raises a bigger concern about what athletes are expected to sacrifice to compete at every opportunity. Hibbert’s concerns are rooted in his own experience with injury and recovery.

Hectic schedule took a toll on Jaydon Hibbert

In April 2022, Jaydon Hibbert faced a demanding run of competitions that left him struggling with ankle and knee pain. He began at the ISSA Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships in Kingston, held from April 5 to 9, where he won both the long jump and triple jump. Just over a week later, he competed at the CARIFTA Games, held from April 16 to 18, winning the under-20 boys’ long jump with 7.62 metres despite a knee injury and fatigue from the previous week’s championships. His busy schedule continued at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia on April 29, where he won the triple jump with 15.94 metres despite pain in his right ankle and knee.

Hibbert’s coach, Jeremy Delisser, later pointed to the demanding run of competitions as a possible reason for his physical problems. “It wasn’t anything serious, I think it was just three heavy back-to-back competitions and I think it (injury) was coming from the efforts at Carifta,” Delisser told Jamaica Star in May 2022. Then Hibbert took time off to recover before gradually returning to training.

The following year brought another painful setback. Hibbert entered the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest as a leading contender for the men’s triple jump title after qualifying with a season-best 17.70 metres. However, he strained his hamstring during his first attempt in the final and was unable to continue, ending his hopes of a medal.

His struggles continued at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he competed while managing a torn meniscus and finished fourth with a jump of 17.61 metres. He subsequently underwent surgery and missed the entire 2025 season. Then he returned to competition in May 2026 at the JBL Jump Fest in Slovakia. His next major appearance came at the Rome Diamond League on June 4, where he jumped 17.02 metres.

Although he was pleased with the result, he explained that he was not yet back to full competition training. He also described being cautious during his first three attempts. He was afraid to run fully into the board because he did not know how his body would respond after such a long absence. Eventually, he decided to attack the runway rather than continue holding back.

Although his knee did not hurt during the competition, he experienced cramping and said his nervous system felt exhausted after completing six rounds. His return highlighted the physical and mental challenges of getting back to top-level competition after a lengthy injury layoff.

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