{"id":246161,"date":"2021-11-24T13:35:22","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T18:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=246161"},"modified":"2021-11-24T13:35:22","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T18:35:22","slug":"erick-hernandez-defies-his-own-shadow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/sports\/erick-hernandez-defies-his-own-shadow\/","title":{"rendered":"Erick Hern\u00e1ndez defies his own shadow"},"content":{"rendered":"

After last September 26, when he left the stage injured and feeling enormously impotent for not being able to complete one of his already usual acts of magic with the ball, Cuban dominator Erick Hern\u00e1ndez appeared before the cameras this Sunday and once again hypnotized us for 1,846 seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n

That was the exact time it took to surpass himself and establish a new world record in the Canal Habana studios located in Maz\u00f3n and San Miguel \u2014 one of the most famous corners of the Cuban capital \u2014 where he showed his skills and hit the ball 2,902 times only with the thighs and with 1.5 kilograms of weight on each ankle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps it seems that half hour and almost 3,000 strokes of the ball are not significant, especially if we\u2019re talking about Erick, a man who has been dominating the ball for more than 19 hours with more than 60,000 touches in some of his records. However, this is a story in which \u201chow it has been achieved\u201d rather than \u201cwhat has been achieved\u201d matters more.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Erick<\/a>
Erick Hern\u00e1ndez sets a new world record in the mastering of the ball, only with his thighs and with weight on his ankles. Photo: Ricardo L\u00f3pez Hevia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Looking back, the Cuban dominator broke his own record in the modality, which dated from 2019, when he touched the ball 2,739 times only with his thighs and the same weight of 1.5 kilograms in each of his ankles. A priori, taking a record of this type a little further represents a challenge, but an extra-class like Erick can achieve it with the necessary amount of preparation and concentration.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the experienced specialist was unable to complete a training stage at the height of the circumstances in recent months, nor was he exclusively focused on the goal, after his brother Douglas \u2014 a pioneer in this art of mastering the ball \u2014 suffered a stroke a few weeks ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

The news was a huge blow to Erick, who has had a counselor and spiritual guide in Douglas for years. In addition, the event itself totally altered his routines, with fewer hours of preparatory work, fewer hours of rest, and greater emotional tension in the face of the danger faced by his brother.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUsually when I set out in search of a record I focus only on that because psychological preparation is as important as physical preparation. Now all that was affected, the strategy collapsed because I had the responsibility of being with my brother in the hospital, watching over his health,\u201d explained Erick through colleague Ricardo L\u00f3pez Hevia.<\/span><\/p>\n

For several weeks, the dominator spent most of his time focused on Douglas\u2019s recovery and rehabilitation and only trained in a few of his spare moments. The work-rest correlation simply disappeared, which can be fatal for a high-performance athlete, but Erick managed to overcome and meet deadlines and demands.<\/span><\/p>\n