Leyanis Pérez, the main figure of Cuban athletics today, was crying this Sunday in the stands of the National Stadium of Tokyo when the competition of the album in the World Championship ended. The tripler, who in just a few hours will face her individual challenge, could not contain the emotion for the surprising bronze medal of her companion Silinda Morales.
The Camagüeyana, who was even in the plans of the most optimistic, sent her album to fly through the Japanese heavens and started waving the Cuban flag on the other side of the world. Against all forecast, Silinda sent the album to 67.25 meters, above her personal record (65.80), and became the fourth Cuban world medalist in the specialty after Yarelis Barrios, Denia Caballero and Yaimé Pérez.
His shot shook the competition, especially the fight for third place, in which three world champions were involved: the American Laulauga Tausaga, the China Feng Bin and the Croatian Sandra Elkasević (formerly Perković). But none of them had a response to the daring of the Cuban, who overcame for more than one meter the best brand of her life.
Morales stepped on the heels of the Dutch Jorinde Van Klinken (67.50) in the silver dispute, because gold was an unattainable dream for the presence and performance of Valarie Allman. The northern disk sent to 69.48 and finally achieved its first world crown, after conquering two Olympic Games and five consecutive editions of the Diamond League.
The American had resisted glory in world championships, but finally made the cross. Saving the huge distances, Silinda Morales has happened something similar. The Cuban was under-18 world champion in Nairobi 2017 and won bronze in the quote of the 2018 Tampere Sub-20 orb, crossing as a new promise for Antillean athletics, but its progression was later somewhat irregular.
He won the Pan -American Junior of Cali in 2021, the Centrocaribe de San Salvador 2023 and sneaked into the final of the Budapest 2023 Global Lid, but that same year he ran out of medals in the continental appointment of Santiago de Chile. In addition, the following summer failed to advance to the final of the Paris Olympic Games.
In 2025, on the other hand, it has managed to stabilize its records above 65 meters, with podiums in various international competitions in Sweden, Portugal, France and Spain. Vital in this evolution has been the figure of Hilda Elisa Ramos, which was right in front of Leyanis Pérez this Sunday in the stands of the National Stadium of Tokyo without knowing very well how to express his joy for Silinda’s triumph.
Hilda Elisa owns second best shot of all time among Cuban discussion and has been coach of the specialty for a long time. The trainer, who witnessed in the front row of Yaimé Pérez’s triumphs, represents an example for Morales.
“I have always admired Maritza Martén, but my idol, the referent I have in sport is Hilda Elisa Ramos. My goal is to achieve results that can emulate those of Hilda Elisa,” said Morales in an interview with Deporcuba in March 2018. At that time they still didn’t work together, but they were destined to cross their paths.
The Union has begun to bear fruit, a very hopeful news for the Cuban album, which fell into an abyss after having two figures in the elite. Anyone would say that an eternity has passed since 2019, but it has not been so much time, only that the pandemic seems to have stretched the calendar. And in 2019, just six years ago, two Cubans dominated the launch of the album in the Athletics World Cup held in Doha. Very close to the Catarí desert, Yaimé Pérez and Denia Caballero won gold and silver to break the domain of the Croatian Sandra Perković.
These two Cubans, a Santiago and a Villaclareña, are still giving war in the launch cages and, although they appear as representatives of the island on international rallies, both decided to emigrate and move away from the national sports movement. For that reason they are not now in the Tokyo World Cup, where, especially Yaimé, I would have had real podium possibilities.
The absence of these two exponents, as we said, opened a crack and put on the shoulders of younger athletes the responsibility of continuing the results. Silinda Morales, because of her physical conditions, her youth, her talent and her previous results, was the great candidate to take over from Yaimé and Denia, but reaching that level of excellence is not a matter of sewing and singing.
Therefore, the present World Cup edition of Tokyo could be a turning point in his career, which may now take new flights. The confidence that provides a triumph in such a demanding scenario, in front of rivals with a very long road map and first level results, can place it at the gates of a promising future.
For Cuban athletics, with immediate effect, its bronze medal is a balm, a breath of air. As we said, on the island we went from having two discólas in the elite to not having any, a painful transition after so many years of successes in the international sand. That is why a result like this triggers the illusion again.
