Cuban athletics lived this weekend the return of the confrontation tests to the Pan American Stadium in Havana with several world-class brands, new Olympic classifications and other pleasant news for one of the key sports for the next Tokyo Olympic Games 2020.
In the first of five domestic competitions planned by the beautiful sport's coaching staff, the 14.93m of tripler Liadagmis Povea stood out in her first outdoor appearance of the season. For the 25-year-old Cuban, that record means her personal brand and she places her as second in the universal ranks, only behind the Venezuelan extraclass Yulimar Rojas (15.43m).
Povea, Olympian in Rio 2016 and World Cup in London 2017 and Doha 2019, got her mark in her first attempt. In the test she also enjoyed good 14.66m and 14.59m, two records that show excellent stability for an athlete who still has the debt of demonstrating her talent in the fundamental competitions of the year.
At the same time, her winning quota brings her closer to the mythical barrier of 15 meters and confirms her as the second Cuban who has come the furthest in the specialty. Ahead of her are only the 15.28m achieved by Yargelis Savigne in Osaka 2007
In that test, the Greater Antilles also enjoyed the Olympic classification of the young Leyanis Pérez, a girl who since March announced her potential to be included in Tokyo and who now confirmed it with a best valid jump of 14.32m, precisely the minimum mark required by the organizers to obtain a direct ticket.
This Saturday she also stretched to 14.26m and 14.46m, although this last jump is not valid because she had too much air in her favor. For the 19-year-old girl, this performance confirms her evolution in a campaign in which she improved her personal brand in each outing. She started the year with 13.96m, then went up to 14.06m, another day she improved it an additional two centimeters and then went over it again to 14.26m.
Now Leyanis becomes ranked number 18 in Cuban athletics heading to the Japanese capital. There she will join Povea and the also insured Davisleidis Velazco, another newcomer who now finished third with 14.21m but who since last season has already been sure of her quota.
Yaimé Pérez sends the album flying
Meanwhile, the stellar Yaimé Pérez continues without leaving any shadow to her status as a favorite in Tokyo and this Saturday she sent the record up to 68.99m, the best shot of the year and the fourth longest of her entire career.
The Doha 2019 world champion had an ascending sequence and landed her best shot on the last outing to the circle. She had previously signed 62.85m, 64.95m and 66.77m as valid shipments, all enough to take first place in the test.
Now Yaimé dominates a world ranking more widely than she was already the leader with 67.73m since last March. The closest pursuers of her are the American Valarie Allman (66.46m) and the Portuguese Liliana Ca (66.40m). The Croatian Sandra Perkovic, the main figure of the women's album in the last decade, is sixth with 65.25m in a season that is still very young.
Better than this Saturday's record, Yaimé only has in her career the 69.39m achieved in France in May 2019, as well as the 69.19m achieved there two years before and the 69.17m that served her to win the Qatari World Cup. .
Now in Havana, her second place was held by Denia Caballero, with about 60.88m, which means the best share of her campaign. The 2015 Beijing starter and Rio 2016 Olympian tan had only one other valid shipment of 59.94m.
In that event, third place went to Silinda Morales (60.72m), while in fourth place was Melany Matheus (56.49m). Both discusses fight to improve their records and get as close as possible to the 63.50m needed to go to Tokyo. For now, Silinda has a 63.17m shot that puts her momentarily in the qualifying zone.
Jordan Díaz reappears strong
Another who also left good feelings was Jordan Díaz, in his first appearance after more than a year without official competitions. Now the world titleholder among cadets and youth dominated the triple jump with a jump of 17.46m that sends him to the top of the universal list.
The Antillean achieved that mark in his first outing with a very strong headwind of -3.5 meters per second. Later he was slowing down his pace and in the end he concluded with other jumps of 16.99m, 16.62m and 16.19m. For the Creole, in need of stabilizing results, this performance means a good start, although it must still be tested at least in the next confrontations.
However, these 17.46m lead Jordan to lead a ranking that now has Hugues Fabrice Zango in second place (17.40m), followed by Americans Chris Benard and Will Claye, both tied with 17.15m. In this test the North American favorite Christian Taylor recently suffered an injury and will miss the games.
For Cuba also competed this weekend Andy Díaz, second with 17.37m and more wind, as well as Cristian Napoles (16.91m equally windy) and Lázaro Martínez, fourth place with valid 16.90m.
Long jump with a lot of wind
If the trippers were affected by the wind, the long jumpers did no better. Under these conditions, Juan Miguel Echevarría achieved 8.55m helped by an air of 3.1 meters per second in his favor. Before, his 8.10m from his first attempt did not go to the books as a valid jump.
In addition to those quotas and a final null jump, the Antillean gave up the rest of his official attempts. This was their first outdoor competition of the year.
Behind the 2019 world tan was Lester Lescay (8.08m), also “helped” by a wind speed of almost four meters per second in his favor. Maykel Massó closed third with valid 8.04m and Maikel Vidal closed the list of contestants with 7.76m equally legal.
In the case of long jumpers, Juan Miguel, Massó and Lester Lescay already have safe quotas for the summer event. If all three concur, it will be the first time that Cuba competes with a full team in the long jump of the Olympic Games..
Adriana Rodríguez surprises; Jorge Fernández does not resign
In other outstanding performances of this confrontation, the heptathlete Adriana Rodríguez gave a pleasant surprise and further lowered her very good personal best in the 100 meters hurdles. Now the Creole ran the distance in 13.01s, a record that no Cuban, including the specialists in that test, has achieved for several years.
The Pan-American holder of Lima 2019 competed with Yorgelis Rodríguez in specific tests, as part of her preparation to participate on May 29 and 30 in a heptathlon in Gotzis, one of her few possibilities of the year to seek the 6420 points that the secure at Tokyo 2020.
In the hectometer with hurdles Yorgelis finished with 13.78s, an acceptable time if we take into account that the best Cuban heptathlete in history is working to leave behind an injury that slowed her rise to the world elite.
Both also competed in the drive of the bullet, and there the most experienced commanded the actions with a good 14.16m. Meanwhile, Adriana finished with a personal best of 13.30m that leaves a good taste in one of her most discreet tests.
On his side, the discóbolo Jorge Fernández closed with about 64.74m that keep alive his hopes of reaching the Japanese capital through one of the uncovered places in the world ranking. From his performance, stability stands out with two other records over 64 meters.
Finally, the 18-year-old Yiselena Ballar (60.84m) exceeded 60 meters in the javelin for the first time. Likewise, Reynier Mena (20.5s) commanded the 200 meters, Roger Iribarne ran poor 13.80s in the 110 hurdles and Daily Cooper closed the 800 meters in 2: 09.32, a record that should improve a lot as he prepares to compete in the Championship World Cup for under 20s.
This confrontation is the first of five planned by Cuban athletics until June 19. In addition to the search for Olympic qualification marks, the competitions seek to nurture athletes who have a safe place while they are inserted in the international circuit.
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