Yargelis Savigne and Dayron Robles to lead Cuban contingent to South Korea: IAAF World Championships
As the 31-member athletic team of Cuba leaves for Daegu, which the hosting city of this year’s IAAF World Athletics Championships, Yargelis Savigne, the triple jump defending world champion and Dayron Robles, the 110m world record holder hurdler have been
appointed as the leaders of the squad.
Savigne, the 26-year-old athlete, after marking the leap of 14.99m in Paris, is at the top of the world list for this year. While appearing at Daegu, the stellar performer is planning to embark upon her third consecutive world title. She was a sheer dominator
on the field back in 2007 (Osaka World Championships) and 2009 (Berlin World Championships).
At the global athletics contest in Osaka, the Cuban girl had set an Area Record of 15.28m. Provided that she bags the world title in Daegu, she will become the first female Cuban athlete ever to mark three consecutive top of the podium finishes at the World
Championships. Presently, for bagging the prestigious title twice, she is tied with countrywomen, Ana Fidelia Quirot and Yipsi Moreno.
Interestingly, despite having an athlete as formidable as Savigne to represent the country at the mega athletic event, Cuba is not solely relying on her performance for a medal, rather, she is being accompanied by three other female triple jump specialists
which are Mabel g*y, Dailenis Alcantara and Yarianna Martinez.
Just like his leading female colleague, Dayron Robles is also in the fourth World championships of his career. However, his field of specialisation, the 110m hurdles, is a discipline where no Cuban male athlete has so far marked his dominance at the world
level and the 24-year-old star is all set to do it in this year’s contest.
Robles, the winner of the 2008 Beijing Championships, observed a perfect campaign to the Daegu tournament, where, while running for the London Samsung Diamond League run, he breasted the tape for marking his year’s best finishing time of 13.04 seconds.
Other prominent athletes in the 31-member (14 men and 17 women) squad are Leonel Suarez, the decathlon specialist who was a runner-up at the Berlin Championships, Guillermo Martinez, the javelin throw specialist, Yarelis Barrios, the discus thrower and Alex
Copello.
In the Hammer Throw competitions, the Cuban squad will cherish the return of 30-year-old formidable thrower, Yipsi Moreno, who had to miss out the Berlin World Championships due to maternity. This year at Daegu, the veteran will mark her presence at the
sixth global athletic event of her career.
Another Cuban athlete who will mark his comeback in the world event is Victor Moya, the 28-year-old high jumper who had finished as a runner-up at the 2005 World Athletics Championships. Besides these veterans, about ten other athletes will mark their debut
in this year’s world athletics event.
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