Hop, skip and a jump -- where does this come from?

I understood that it referred to the triple jump, a fancy distance jump event in track and field. I saw a similar term used in a book that I think predates the triple jump, though, so now I'm not sure of the origin. The book was probably one of Jane Austen's. When did the triple jump start? The modern Olympics didn't start until 1896. It could have been done in the original Greek Olympics, but I doubt the term would have been familiar when the book was written.