Ionut Punga is a retired Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n triple jump

Triple jump

The triple jump is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump, but involving a “hop, bound and jump” routine, whereby the competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit.The triple jump has its origins in the Ancient Olympics and has been a...

er. Originally a hurdler

110 metres hurdles

The 110 metres hurdles is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is incuded in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metre hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurdles of 1.067 metres in height are evenly spaced along a straight...

, he holds the European age record for the age of 15 with 14.73 over 110 metres hurdles

110 metres hurdles

The 110 metres hurdles is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is incuded in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metre hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurdles of 1.067 metres in height are evenly spaced along a straight...

 http://people.freenet.de/athletics/. He later switched to triple jump and won the 1998 World Junior Championships with a jump of 16.94 metres, only 10 centimetres behind the championship record set by Yoelbi Quesada

Yoelbi Quesada

Yoelbi Luis Quesada Fernández is a Cuban athlete competing mostly in triple jump. He has an Olympic bronze medal, and became world champion in 1997 with a personal best jump of 17.85m.- Major achievements :...

 in 1994. The next year Punga finished 5th at the World Indoor Championships

1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships

The 7th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the Green Dome Maebashi stadium in Maebashi, Japan from March 5 to March 7, 1999. It was the first time the Championships were staged outside Europe or North America. Primo Nebiolo, president of the IAAF, characterized the...

. His personal best was 17.04 metres, which he achieved twice in June 1999.

YEAR	RANG	EVENT	PERFORMANCE	CONTEST
1996	III	TRIPLE JUMP	16.15	World Junior Championships
1997	II	TRIPLE JUMP	16.43	European Junior Championships
1998	I	TRIPLE JUMP	16.94	World Junior Championships
1999	I	TRIPLE JUMP	16.76	European Under 23 Championships
1999	V	TRIPLE JUMP	16.87	World Indoor Championships
2000	XIV	TRIPLE JUMP	16.72	Olympic Games
2001	III	TRIPLE JUMP	16.81	European Under 23 Championships

EVENT	PERFORMANCE
60 Metres Hurdles	7.75
110 Metres Hurdles	13.79
60 Metres	6.74
100 Metres	10.67
Triple jump	17.05
Long Jump	7.68

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