World medalists Lazaro Martinez, Leyanis Perez and Cristian Napoles lead a quintet of Cuban athletics stars who travel to Europe on Friday for a winter tour.
The Cuban Athletics Federation announced on Friday the dates and rallies in which the five athletes, who must also attend the World Indoor Championships, scheduled for March 1-3 in Glasgow, have already secured their participation.
The program “is subject to change because new confirmations may appear,” added the governing body of athletics in Cuba.
In addition to Martínez (world runner-up in Budapest-2023 in the triple jump), and triple jumpers Leyanis and Nápoles (both bronze medalists), the list includes high jumper Luis Zayas (fourth in the world) and triple jumper Liadagmis Povea (sixth).
All five have already secured their tickets to the Olympic Games in Paris, as they all met the minimum marks required by World Athletics (WA).
Martinez (26 years old) won the silver medal in Budapest last year with 17.41m, in addition to the titles in the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile (17.19) and in the Central American Games in San Salvador (17.51).
Leyanis (22 years old) had his best season and was only 2 centimeters away from breaking the 15.00m barrier, with 14.98 in the European tour. At the Budapest World Championships he won bronze (14.96), while at the Pan American Games in Chile he triumphed with 14.75.
For Napoles (25 years old), the 2023 season marked his return to the Cuban national team after a period of self-marginalization due to disagreements with the methods of the former management of the National Commission, and he reappeared with a valuable bronze medal at the World Championships in Hungary (17.40)
.Luis Zayas (26 years old) also had his best season, crowned with the triumph at the Pan American Games (2.27) and fourth place in Budapest with a 2.33 that sealed his Olympic place and was his best result ever.Povea (27 years old) was sixth at the world championships, silver in Chile and also came close to the 15.00m, with 14.87 in her fundamental competition.
The quintet travels to Europe accompanied by their coaches: Yoelbis Quesada, Ricardo Ponce, Juan Gualberto Nápoles and Juan F. Centelles, physiotherapist Iyuneisi García and the manager of the Cuban national team, Jorge Luis Aguilera.
The first competition of the Cubans will be on January 28 at the Meeting of Val-de-Reuil (France), where Martínez and Nápoles will be present.In addition, competitions are scheduled in Poland, Italy, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
