The 15th IAAF World Championships are fast approaching, hosted this year for the first time by China in the stunning National Stadium – known as the Bird's Nest – in Beijing. The competition will see a total of 1,936 athletes compete, including 893 women, from 207 countries.
Cuba has a team of 34 athletes seeking the gold medals which have proved elusive since the Daegu edition of 2011. The last title holder was triple jumper Yargelis Savigne (14.95 meters in Berlin 2009), while the first athletes to reach the top of the podium for the island were high jumpers Javier Sotomayor (2.40m) and Ioannet Quintero (1.99m) in Stuttgart 1993. Cuba’s first ever medal in the IAAF championships came in 1983 in Helsinki, where discus thrower Luis Mariano Delis took silver (67.36m).
In fact Sotomayor’s competition record remained unbeaten until two years ago, at the Moscow edition of the championships, when UkrainianBohdan Bondarenkowon with a jump of 2.41m.
As has been the case previously at this competition – which until Tokyo 1991 was held every four years, and is now held every two years – Cuba’s best hopes for medals are placed on the track and field events, particularly the men’s triple jump and the women’s pole vault and discus throw.
Notably, pole vaulter Yarisley Silva has been victorious against major rivals in recent competitions.While triple jumper Pedro Pablo Pichardo will seek to surpass the silver medal obtained in Moscow in 2013, where he leapt a distance of 17.68 meters.
Cuba features 10th place on the total medal table of all editions of the competition, with 19 gold medals, 22 silvers and 12 bronze. The United States (138-88-75), Russia (53-59-54) and Kenya (43-37-32) occupy the first three places among the 95 nations that have secured at least one medal. The Russians took advantage of their status as hosts two years ago and ousted the United States from the top spot at the very last moment: with 7 gold medals (4 silver and 6 bronze) compared to the U.S.’s 6 (plus 14 silver and 5 bronze).
This time the U.S. is determined to regain its supremacy, and in order to ensure this it has a team of 130 athletes in Beijing, a number only surpassed by the hosts. Russia (71 athletes), Germany (66), the UK (63), Brazil (58), Jamaica (53), Canada (51) and Poland (50), are other competition heavyweights this year.
IN CONVERSATION WITH A GREAT
Any conversation with Javier Sotomayor, however short it is, arouses interest. He is Cuba’s sole track and field world record holder, having defied gravity in Salamanca on July 27, 1993, soaring over the bar at 2.45 meters.
“This will be a very tough World Championships, with the presence of the best athletes, who will be seeking Olympic-qualifying scores for Río de Janeiro 2016. In the case of our representatives the greatest chances of competing for titles fall to Yarisley Silva (pole vault) Pedro Pablo Pichardo (triple jump) and Denia Caballero and Yaimé Pérez (discus throw).
“Then, in a second level of quality and with finalist prospects – which would mean finishing among the top eight in their respective events – are Yorgelis Rodríguez (heptathlon), the men's 4x400 relay, hurdlers O’Farrill or Potrilla if they run well, and Roberto Janet (hammer throw). In each case if they approach or exceed their best scores.”
In order to be a champion many variables must combine, as Sotomayor experienced in Tokyo 1991 against Charles Austin of the U.S. “Any physical discomfort, a detail of concentration, and the lucidity of the main opponents in the competitive field can cut a dream short,” Javier adds.
Cuba’s athletes are already in Beijing, and in the words of Daniel Osorio, head coach of the team, the fundamental objective is to surpass the performances of Daegu 2011 and Moscow 2013. To this is added the aim of reaching the scores required by the IAAF in order to secure a place at the 2016 Río Olympics.
