Jamaican triple jump sensation Jaydon Hibbert is set to miss the 2025 indoor season as he continues his recovery from knee surgery late last year. The 20-year-old, who underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus sustained at the Jamaica National Championships last summer, has only recently resumed background training.
Travis Geopfert, Director of Track and Field and Cross Country at Kansas State University, confirmed Hibbert's current status to Sportsmax.TV, explaining that the young athlete is making steady progress.
"Yeah, he's doing a great job, man. Doing all of his rehab, got his body strong, just kind of bulletproofing, and he just started, basically, cycle one of training right now," Geopfert said of the two-time World U20 gold medallist. "He's been doing a lot of stuff with the PT (personal trainer) and just really getting his body feeling good before we really started. He's in week three of the background training right now. He's in a good place right now. He's doing really, really good. So he's gonna miss indoors completely."
Geopfert and Hibbert
Hibbert displayed remarkable resilience last summer, competing through injury at the Paris Olympics, where he finished fourth with a mark of 17.61m—just three centimetres shy of a bronze medal. His determination to push through pain at the highest level underscored his immense potential and competitive spirit.
His injury stemmed from an incident at the Jamaica National Championships, where he landed in an under-prepared pit, leading to significant damage to his knee. Despite the setback, his performances remained world-class, and his ability to challenge for an Olympic medal while not at full fitness drew widespread admiration.
Hibbert previously trained under Geopfert at the University of Arkansas but has since relocated to Kansas State University after Geopfert was appointed to his current position in July last year.
Geopfert lauded Hibbert’s perseverance, recalling the challenges they faced during the Olympic buildup.
"Yeah, we had to work through it, man. We had to modify things a little bit. I'm just really proud of him in his efforts, you know, because he was not 100 per cent, but man, he battled. He put it out there. He tried, just off the medal, which is really good considering the circumstances," he told Sportsmax.TV last September.
With his rehabilitation phase now complete and his background training underway, Hibbert is on track for a strong return to competition. While he will miss the indoor season, his focus remains on getting back to peak condition for the upcoming outdoor campaign, where he will aim to reaffirm his status as one of the most promising talents in world athletics.