Havana, Feb 20 (Prensa Latina) Cuban male former high jumper and still world recordman Javier Sotomayor highlighted the potential of Cuban track and field to face new international competitions, among them the Central American Games in Barranquilla, Colombia this year.
In his statements to Prensa Latina, Sotomayor extolled the inrush of new and young Cuban athletes in track and field activities such as long jump, discus, polt vault, shot put and others in an activity to award junior athletes for their performances during 2017.
Sotomayor mentioned male triple jumper Jordan Diaz -winner of the 2017 world junior title in Nairobi, Kenya, with 17.30 meters- who is a man with the highest record in history for athletes under 18 years of age.
Other young athletes he mentioned, were male long jumper Maikel Masso and female javelin thrower Marisleisys Duarthe.
He praised the good work of Cuban coaches to improve the performance of the young athletes.
Regarding this subject Jordan Diaz stated that he reached a performance in the third confrontation test of the Cuban national team over the one reached in Kenya, with 17.32 meters.
Diaz, a 16-year-old athlete, expressed his wish to be a member of the Cuban representation to the Central American Games.
He regarded his training as a good one to face the challenge in Barranquilla and expressed his wish to bring a gold medal for the people of Cuba if he gets to participate in the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.
Cuba got 22 gold, 14 silver and 8 bronze medals in the last Central American games in Veracruz, Mexico, what gave it the first place in the medal position list.
