Just ten countries have athletes whose world records were registered last century. In other words, those registers surpass or are turning 23 years at least, which illustrates how significant they were, to the point they have remained unbeatable to this day.
Javier Sotomayor Sanabria has Cuba included in that selected list, since his 2.45 m world record in the high jump recently turned 30 years undefeated. Sotomayor could have celebrated the feat’s anniversary in Spain, where the record was staged. However, he showed up in Limonar, the land of his birth, and said he can celebrate with Sotico there, but it would not be the same as with his people.
In 30 years, much has been said about that jump, which equals to surpass a football goal crossbar (2.44) or jump over the net of a volleyball court (2.43). Curiously, these heights were also world records for Sotomayor. In Puerto Rico he established the first, on July 29, 1989, namely, next 2024 we would celebrate the 35 years of that jump, which even today is the second best in history. That long has lasted that of 2.43.
The 2.43 is also the world record indoor, he achieved that on March 4, 1988, the reason for which he has celebrated this calendar year the 35 years, with nobody else reaching that height.
But Javier Sotomayor holds another world record: he is the man that today after 20 years of retirement that has surpassed the 2.40 m level more times. They were 17 stretches over that height. To have a better idea of the feat, just 13 men have achieved that, and the current world leader in that event is Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim, who achieved that 11 times, including (in 2014) 2.43; 2.42 and two times 2.41. The third men in history is Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko with eight.
His world record is also the fourth of longest validity in the men’s division outdoor and the seventh indoor between men and women.
But his best registers are those of Cuban attachment, understood by Miguel Barnet as the quality of being a faithful Cuban, the first nature of being a true Cuban. That’s why he chose to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 2.45 in Limonar.
