Former Mizzou triple jumper claims national title
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Euphenie Andre takes the triple jump crown at the 2026 U.S. Track and Field Championships.
The former Tiger caps off one of her most successful seasons with a gold medal at the national finals. Andre improved on her personal best by nearly a foot to win the national title.
"All of my hard work, my dedication, has paid off," said Andre. " There's been obviously times where I doubted myself where I'm like, I might be crazy, maybe I'm not as good as I think I am, and so it feels good."
You can watch the full interview with Andre in the video player above.
She placed third at this meet one year ago, narrowly missing out on a spot on the world championship team. But coming back in 2026, she was determined to climb up the podium.
"I'm hungry. I'm going to win. I'm going to leave here winning," said Andre. "I told myself 'Euphenie you have to win it."
Andre faulted on her first two jumps, putting her on the brink of elimination and needed to get a mark to make the final rounds. After she secured that, she knew she was going to get it done.
"Once I got my mark in, once I was solidified, I said 'they should be scared now, and I went for it on four, five, and six, and that's when I took off."
The former Tiger jumped a massive personal best in the fifth round, more than half a foot farther than her previous best which catapulted her into the front of the competition. Even with a healthy lead, she wasn't ready to celebrate before the competition was over.
Heading into the final round, she had a 14 centimeter lead, before improving on her personal best once again to bolster that lead, securing the gold medal.
"It makes me feel really good because I know my next jump is going to be farther than that, so it makes me feel really good," said Andre. "I'm just going to be working really hard and continue the support that I do have."
