HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 14 (ACN) Cuba has confirmed 33 track-and-field athletes for the 1st Junior Pan American Games to be held in Cali, Colombia, from November 25 to December 5.
Heading the lists are the medalists of the World Junior Championships held in Nairobi, Kenya, last August, namely Juan Carley Vázquez (gold in shot put), Shainer Reginfo (bronze in 100 m) and Yiselena Ballar (bronze in javelin throw). Other well-known names are Maikel Vidal (long jump), Dayli Cooper (800 m), Melany Matheus (discus throw), Rosaidi Robles (pole vault) and Leyanis Pérez (triple jump).
About the continental multisport competition in Cali, Yipsi Moreno, national commissioner of athletics, told ACN that what matters now is to complete the training process in the little more than 40 days left before the Games start.
Moreno refused to make forecasts, especially considering that many of the qualified athletes have been training at home for months because of COVID-19.
Once a star of hammer throw competitions, Yipsi’s record includes three gold medals in World Championships (Edmonton 2001, Paris 2003 and Helsinki 2005) and the Olympic crown in Beijing 2008.
“The human material is there, and that is very important,” she pointed out. “These youngsters who will represent Cuba in the 1st Junior Pan American Games are of necessity the ones who will take the baton from the current athletes. By 2023, many of them will surely be in the Central Caribbean and other continental events for seniors.