It is said, and it is not a lie, that the pre-Olympic year always brings good sensations in the world of sports. 2014 left encouraging moments for Cuba, and had its peak when winning the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz . There were not few who thought the regional leadership would cease. In the end, Mexico fell short, and the delegation of Cuba did its job.
Precisely, in Aztec lands , one of the disciplines that most contributed to the Cuban delegation was athletics with 23 titles and 46 medals in total. This favorable amount “closed” (we could also say that opened) a discrete international season in terms of results, and where the other significant highlight came at the beginning.
The first quality event was the World Championship of Sopot, Poland, held from March 7 to 9. On European soil, and indoor, the pole vaulter Yarisley Silva said goodbye to poor results after a shaky general preparation, and with her best performance of the period, 4.70 meters , reached the top.
Equal highlight was achieved by Guantanamo’s Ernesto Reve, runner up in triple jump, who left the bronze medal to Santiago’s Pedro Pablo Pichardo. The latter was then sanctioned for wanting to train with his father (he was who trained him at youth level), so he missed all that remained of the competitive stage.
The planetary contest for relays in Nassau, Bahamas, also met in those days to the governing body of the “king of sports” on the island. The men’s 4 × 400 meters relay finished fifth in the A final, after timing . 3: 00.61 minutes, and reached its ticket to the orbital tournament in Beijing, China, to be held from next August 22 to 30; while the sprinters scored 38.44 seconds, seventh time between contestants quatrains in the short relay. However, fate played a trick on them and their qualifying heat was the fastest, an element that blocked their way to the decisive run.
In the end they finished ninth, and stayed a step behind of securing a ticket to the Asian giant. However, they must be congratulated: They decreed the awakening of a historical mode (you should delve into the memories) stranded in time, as anything like that was not achieved since a decade ago. I even leave you a tip : we may say that from the bronze medal reached at Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Then negative outcomes came. Silva stopped being successful because she did not find her optimal shape and Revé was injured. It was there when even younger athletes took the baton and did their thing. Sahily Diago and Lázaro Martínez won medals at the Diamond League in events that offered them, more than anything, experience in the elite towards the World Junior T ournament in Eugene, United States.
On northern soil, Diago surprisingly anchored second (by then she led the ranking of the women´s 800 -meter for senior athletes with 1.57.74 minutes, result achieved in Havana), and Martinez was immense by breaking the record of the competition with 17.09 meters in men´s triple jump, at only 17. The previous record belonged to another Cuban: Yoelbis Quesada.
During the summer tour we can not ignore the amazing performances on disc throwing, in both sexes; event that shows health, talent and youth today. Denia Caballero, Yaimé Perez and Jorge Fernandez appeared in many headlines, and in the case of the latter, he was among the best men in the world, fighting without fear against their counterparts in any latitude. However, everything remained there, and no Cuban of his specialty won a single international event.
At Heriberto Jara stadium , in Xalapa, and returning to the Central Caribbean Games, this discipline also won 15 silver, eight bronze medals and 15 direct tickets to China. Although it is clear that Veracruz was not attended by several major track and field athletes in the area (mostly the sprinters), we must recognize the effort and level of Cuban representatives, who are mostly under 23 years.
Extraordinary was what was achieved again by Pinar del Rio´s Yarisley Silva and the hammer thrower Yipsi Moreno. They b oth set records at different times in their careers. The Olympic silver medalist in the pole vault trying to achieve the athletic shape that made her fly over 4.90 meters in 2013; while Camagüey’s Yipsi, also Olympic runner up, but twice, saying goodbye to the active sports, as great as she always was.
Andy Gonzalez did more than enough with their great performances on the same finish line in the men´s 800 and 1500 meters, not believing in his own shadow and his more valued rivals with better records than him; or Sergio Mestre, who in his last attempt flew over 2.26 meters in the men´s high jump to win an event where the name of a Cuban is always mentioned: Javier Sotomayor.
Also heartening news were left by the gold and silver medals achieved in marathon by Richer Pérez and Dailin Belmonte, respectively; as well as the titles in the 4 × 400 meters relays, in both sexes, and in the men´s 4 x 100 meters . Omar Cisneros, Guillermo Martínez, Yordani García, Roberto Janet, Lazaro Borges and Ernesto Revé were among the most known Cuban athletes who highlighted in the games .
These results are an example of the sacrificed work of athletes, trainers and officials who know that there is ample room for improvement, despite the absence of all conditions for the practice and development of such a professional discipline, in which the demands and quality at international level is constant.
2015 s tarts and it is already felt the hustle at the Pan American Stadium , east of Havana . Young figures, mostly, will try to achieve the marks to attend the Diamond League (this does not depend on them), the World Outdoor Championships in Beijing, and the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, main event for the country; o n a season that always leaves a good taste, because as a prelude to the Olympics, the great athletes never want to lose it eager to put each one on his place and patenting their glamou r.
The best on the planet
The absence of Jamaican Usain Bolt, the most famous of the sport and with almost no presentation, cleared the scenario for others to stand out and being recognized as “The Lightning” took all the honors in recent years through his fabulous performances . So, the French Renaud Lavillenie, the Kenyan Dennis Kimetto after his world records, plus Valerie Adams f rom New Zealand were the most outstanding athletes of the “king of sports” in 2014.
The European pole vaulter, 28, started the season with two new national records. The first was achieved at home, on January 25 ( 6.04 meters) , and the second one, almost a week later in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz , where he flew over 6.08 meters .
However, the highest moment of his career came on February 15 in Donetsk, Ukraine, and before the impatient look of the legendary Sergey Bubka. There he achieved what seemed a chimera, he jumped over 6.16 meters , indoors, and thus he left behind the figure of 6.15, to become the human being who has flown the highest in the world ever .
In total , Lavillenie won 22 of the 23 tournaments in which he took part. He was only defeated at the Stockholm meeting of the Diamond League on August 21, where he had three unsuccessful attempts on 5.60.
The other record set was in the marathon event, with the victory of Kenyan Dennis Kimetto in late September, in Berlin. The African scored 2: 02.57 hours to cross the finish line, beco ming thus the first rider to lower the barrier of two hours and three minutes after 42 kilometers and 195 meters long . The other significant fact is that for the sixth time the German capital saw a man beating the record of the event , since Brazilian Ronaldo Da Costa did it in 1998.
On the other hand, the shot put specialist V alerie Adams, 30, won the World Indoor Championship in Sopot, triumphed in the Commonwealth Games and won the seven Diamond League meetings in which s he participated ( Doha, Rome, New York , Lausanne, Monaco, Birmingham and Brussels). She also reached 14 wins this year and total s 56 consecutively. Attention : she remains unbeaten since August 2010.
For Latin America and the Caribbean we must highlight the performances by Colombian triple jumper Caterine Ibarguen, Jamaican Kaliese Spencer (women´s 400 meters hurdles) and h er compatriots Novlene Williams-Mills ( women´s 400 meters ) and Veronica Campbell-Brown (women´s 100 m) and Panama’s Alonso Edward (men´s 200 m eters) , all winners of the Diamond League .
