His personal best is 17.81 meters. He took his first major medal at the 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics, winning the gold with a jump of 16.41 m. He suffered a serious knee injury (tendonitis) and missed the 2009 World Championships in Athletics as a result.
He opted to undergo major surgery and brought an end to a two-year-long injury hiatus with a jump of 16.88 m in May 2010.
He proved himself to return to peak fitness with a silver medal performance at the 2010 European Athletics Championships (jumping 1751 m) and then taking the gold medal at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup later that season.