Two bronze medals was the balance for the cuban athletics in the most recent stop of the Diamond League, held this Friday in Florence, Italy.
The third places in the so-called Golden Gala Pietro Mennea 2023 went to the high jumper Luis Enrique Zayas and the triple jumper Lázaro Martínez, two of the main figures on the island today.
Zayas rose to 2.27 meters, one centimeter below his best mark of the year, but enough to get on the podium. Ahead were the American JuVaughn Harrison (2.32 m-gold) and the South Korean Sanghyeck Woo (2.30 m-silver), according to review the digital site Hit.
Cubans awarded in the Florence Diamond League
Luis Enrique Zayas and Lázaro Martínez finished third during the day in which the world record in the 1,500 meters changed ownership. #Cuba #Athletics https://t.co/ZZqaTFCuAl pic.twitter.com/103u2hV73s— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) June 3, 2023
Meanwhile, Lázaro Martínez had to wait until his fifth attempt to overcome the 17-meter barrier and, incidentally, sneak into the top three of the triple jump event.
The event was dominated by the also Cuban Andy Díaz, who competes for Italy and starred in an excellent jump of 17.75 m. In this way, he surpassed the star Hugues Fabrice Zango, from Burkina Faso (17.68 m) and his compatriot Martínez (17.12 m).
Cuba’s performance in Florence was completed with Roxana Gómez’s fourth place in the 400 meters. The Caribbean woman set a time of 51.29 seconds and was unable to reach the podium, which this time was taken by the Polish Natalia Kaczmarek (50.41), the Dutch Lieke Klaver (50.75) and the American Lynna Irby-Jackson (50.84).
This stop of the Diamond League had as its highlight the world record of the Kenyan Faith Kipyegon in the 1500 meters, with an impressive time of 3:49.11 minutes. In this way, the also world and Olympic champion became the first woman in history to go below 3:50.00.
A historic night at #FlorenceDL ??!
See you next Friday for more Wanda #DiamondLeague action at #ParisDL ??.
? @matthewquine / @chiaramontesan2
— Wanda Diamond League (@Diamond_League) June 3, 2023
Three titles in Pamplona
Along with the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala, this Friday also took place the International Athletics Meeting in Pamplona, Spain, and in it Cuba won three gold medals.
The runner Sahily Diago ventured this time into the 1500 meters, and although her record of 4:14.48 minutes was far from the new world record of the Kenyan Kipyegon, it was her personal best in the distance.
In addition, this time earned her to climb to the top of the podium, ahead of the Guatemalan Viviana Aroche (4:17.24) and the Brazilian July Da Silva (4:21.82).
In the 100 hurdles, for its part, Cuba did the one-two with Greysis Roble and Keily Pérez, who marked 13.03 and 13.32 seconds, respectively, although with a tailwind, as he refers cubadebate. In bronze was the Spanish Laura Benko (13.47).
The third scepter went to Cristian Nápoles in triple jump, although with a poor record of 16.64 meters. Even so, his best jump was a good distance from those achieved by the silver and bronze winners: local Marcos Ruiz (16.02) and Ramón Adalia (15.60).
Finally, the pole vaulter Eduardo Nápoles anchored third with a jump of 5.36 m, while the also pole vaulter Aslín Quiala did not reach the podium and finished fourth with 4.21 m. These tests were won by the Spanish Isidro Leyva and Adrián Pérez among the men, both with 5.46 meters; while the Chinese Xu Huiqin (4.51) dominated the female branch.
