The inaugural title was won by a woman in her first season in this event who had failed to reach the Stuttgart long jump final. Biryukova started in style with 14.62, and improved to a personal best of 14.77 in round 2. Conversely, the world record holder Chen only just managed to qualify for her last three jumps.
By the start of the fifth round, Biryukova had a lead of 68cm from Kašpárková, who was about to plummet five places. The Russian increased her advantage with the first ever 15m triple jump – a world record of 15.09. The three phases of the jump were measured at 5.57, 4.47 and 5.05.