Ten is a good, round number, for the unprecedented Cuban participation in the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships, in the George Brown Convention Center in Houston, November 19-28, where 737 athletes (including 314 women) were looking to win a ticket to the Río de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
Daniel Núñez, Alberto Blanco, Pablo Lara, and Iván Cámbar are among Cuba’s Herculean weightlifters who have won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals, to allow Cuba to place 26th on the all-time Olympic medal count.
Sergio Álvarez and Yasmani Romero (56 kg), Iván Cámbar (77) and Yoelmis Hernández (85) led the country’s crusade in the London 2012 Games, where
Cámbar (77 kg) from the province of Granma made a tremendous effort to win a bronze - not only lifting a total of 349 kg (155-194), but doing so in a tension filled event. First South Korean Sa Jae-hyouk was injured, and then came sharp competition from China’s Lu Haojie, who eventually took the silver, and ultimately, the biggest challenge, Egyptian Ibrahim Ramadán with his last 197 attempt. He failed and the Cuban representative took the top spot on the podium.
ALMATY: A NECESSARY RETROSPECTIVE
Cuba’s weightlifters were obliged to follow a route through Almaty, Kazakhstan before reaching the city of Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas, and its convention center, among the largest in the country with a 6,500 seat capacity.
The International Federation stipulates that for nations seeking to qualify for the Olympics, the performances of their representatives in the two World Championships prior to the big event will be totaled. Individually, occupants of the 25 first positions qualify.
Adriel La O and Jordanis Espinosa (77kg) and Víctor Manuel Quiñones (94), traveled to Houston, along with Yoelmis Hernández and Yadier Núñez (85), Alejandro Cisneros (105), Asniel Rodríguez (+105), and Cuba’s new female team members Niulys González (53), Sahily Valdespino (58) and Marina Rodríguez (63).
La O, ranked number 17 with a total of 326kg (148-178); Espinosa, 18th thanks to lifts of 326kg (144-182); and Quiñones, 20th with 353kg (162-191), together contributed 23 points to the Olympic cause, filling in for Cuba’s principal weightlifters who were involved in the Central American and Caribbean Games, Veracruz 2014.
HOUSTON: ZERO HOUR
Cuba’s weightlifters are expected to fare well on U.S. soil, including 18-year-old Niulys González from the province of Mayabeuqe who is making her debut as 33rd among 39 women in her division, having lifted 155 kg (70-85), significantly less than Tiwanese champion Ching Hsu-Shu 221 (96-125).
Women’s coach Adán Rosales commented on his disciple and niece, saying, “Niulys has shown considerable progress. Recently, in the women’s festival in the Dominican Republic, she produced two bronzes with 68kg in the snatch and a clean and jerk of 86, in both cases, juvenile and adult national records.
“Technically, she needs to improve the first move of the clean and jerk, since she doesn’t fully exploit the strength of her legs, which relates to the explosiveness of her jerks, and her technique in taking on the weight make the snatch her better lift.”
“In the Dominican competition, Marina came in third in the snatch (85 kg) and won silver in the clean and jerk (106). In the latter, she was about to lift 113 kg, but a small problem in her recovery did not allow it. We are, in fact, attempting to perfect her clean and jerk from the chest, with auxiliary exercises, and improve the work on coordinating her legs, when closing the split.”
“She is very consistent in her lifts, and is ranked sixth in the Americas, at this time. Her progress, since the beginning of training, surpasses 25kg. She is strong and explosive, but needs to control her emotions, and the time required for each move,” the trainer said.
In Toronto she won a promising silver medal with her lifts of 203 kg (89-114), arriving in Houston ranked 22nd worldwide.
YOELMIS, LA O, NÚÑEZ… ALL FOR ONE
If one lifter of the caliber of Vicente Gálvez must pull the team’s weight, it is 29-year-old Yoelmis Hernández, from the Isle of Youth, who has put together a string of three medals in the World Championships’ clean and jerk, beginning in Turkey 2010, and most recently in Poland 2013. He is one of the world’s best in the 85kg division, and currently leads with his 370kg (164-206) that won him a gold medal in the Toronto Pan Americans.
For some time now, Yoelmis has been concentrating on making a snatch lift of 170kg, and a clean and jerk of 215. In fact, he came close to 212 in Toronto. His consistency, Yoelmis says, comes as a result of ankle flexibility exercises, to go along with his principal strength - his legs – and others for the lower back, carefully monitored by physical therapist Camilo Pascual.
Yoelmis is wonderfully accompanied in his division by Daniel Núñez, a 24-year-old from Ciego de Ávila, who ranks fourth with 364kg (163-201). His principal enemy, following a successful recovery from knee surgery, has been his weight.
Another Cuban, in the running for one of the top ten positions in his division is the indomitable La O. His Canadian lifts of 338kg (153-185) have earned him the 13th spot worldwide.
Among other members of the team with the best prospects is Cisneros, ranked 22nd with a high total 369 kg.
During the last event at this level of world competition, in Almaty, China (5-2-4) came away with the win, followed by Kazakhstan (3-2-1), and the People’s Republic of Korea (3-1-3). Beyond medals, points for Olympic qualification were important, and this is again the case in Houston. Fans are confident that the team effort will amass enough points to ensure Cuba a well-deserved spot at the Río de Janeiro Games.
