NANJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Paris Olympic medalist Andy Diaz Hernandez of Italy soared to the triple jump title, while China's Zhu Yaming, in a personal breakthrough, secured the silver as the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships kicked off here on Friday.

The Italian elite hopped, skipped, and jumped his way to a world-leading and national record of 17.80 meters to secure the first gold of Nanjing 2025, which will last until Sunday.

Although Diaz Hernandez's initial jump was his best of the day, no other athlete could match his remarkable performance. Despite a lengthy wait between jumps, which left him inactive for a considerable time, the Italian star's solitary leap proved enough to earn him the first global title of his career.

"My plan was never to jump only once. There was a very long wait in between jumps, so I was quite inactive for too long, and this led to the decision of skipping the following attempts," said Diaz Hernandez. "But I feel strong, and this is indicative that good jumps could happen this summer."

China's Zhu leapt 17.33 meters to secure the silver medal, while Burkina Faso's defending champion Hugues Fabrice Zango jumped 17.15 meters to claim bronze.

For Zhu, this marked his first-ever medal at an indoor World Championships. "To be able to win a medal at home, at such a high-level competition, it means a lot, and this was not an easy thing to do," Zhu said.

"I was carrying some injury into this meet. I had some trouble with my heel, and I wasn't even sure if I would be able to complete the competition," he added. Enditem

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