Memorable moments and the imprint of our athletes in the youth category throughout 2021 are still fresh in the memory. A year that, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, for several meant standing out, scoring a cross within the wonders of his age, or even successfully navigating top-level stardom.
We are talking about world championships in their respective disciplines, continental competitions, and an event that brought many of our athletes to the regional level: the first edition of the Junior Pan American Games, hosted by the Colombian city of Cali and other sub-venues.
That slightly more intense schedule for some, meant having the opportunity to gain experience in other scenarios of notorious qualitative level, either for the same age or regardless of these limits, depending on the caliber of the novel in question. But it also involved resorting to subterfuge to complete preparation structures, in many cases redesigned as a result of the scourge of the virus. Double the effort, bubble regimens, and the addition of a lack of resources or unsuitable training infrastructure.
Then the award for effort counts, and a lot, considering that the levels of load assimilation and compliance with individualized plans at these ages, as well as the assimilation or adaptability to psychological or other variables, given the lack of experience forged in the heat of the confrontation, it could, and in fact was for some, like another opposite.
Thus, the awards for the best male and female individual athletes were shared by the diver Anisley García Navarro and the canoeist Katherin Nuevo Segura; as well as canoist José Ramón Pelier Córdova and shot putter Juan Carley Vázquez Gómez.
Meanwhile, the remaining winners became the men’s binomial of beach volleyball as a team; and in the non-individual event category, the mixed diving team won, made up of Anisley García Navarro, Laydel Domínguez Cervantes, Luis Gustavo Cañabate Álvarez, and Carlos Daniel Ramos Rodríguez.
The most outstanding event of the year unquestionably fell on the first medal in absolute category world championships achieved by Cuban canoists, an honor forged by force of shoveling by Katherin Nuevo Segura and Yarisleidi Cirilo Duboy.
Meanwhile, the list of 10 highlights was made up of Jorge Luis Felimón Lobaina (boxing), Yarisleidi Cirilo Duboy (canoeing), Jeisser Sampson Sánchez (Greco-Roman wrestling), Milaymis de la Caridad Marín Potrillé (free wrestling), Ewart Andrés Marín Hernández (boxing ), Kriszthihan Barrera Arias (boxing), Yiselena Ballar Rojas (athletics), Shainer Reginfo Montoya (athletics), Thalía Nariño Castellano (judo) and Dany Landys Lafó Poll (boxing).
As creditors of mentions were the boxer Fernando Alejandro Arzola López, and the judoka Omar Cruz León, as well as the disciplines of athletics, boxing and wrestling.
The livelihood of our budding aces
After the initial reflection and outlining some indicators of incidence in the performances carried out by our outstanding juveniles, it is time to stop at the arguments that led them to caress the glory, and what is essential, not to lose sight of them in their transition to the higher category.
So that the potentialities are not diluted and the accompaniment translates into the forge of future universal and Olympic aces. Cubasí will approach the four with the greatest brilliance, and then we will focus on the remaining winners.
Anisley García: After her title with 16 years on the platform of the Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla 2018 with an accumulated score of 332.90 points, the “Tuti” flirted with qualifying last year for the Tokyo Olympics, by placing in 21st place in the World Cup (256.70 units), a qualifier played in the Japanese capital itself.
That performance in the only incursion she had in a scoring contest, deserves the 37th position in the World ranking of women’s platform with eight units, a location that I consider is not in correspondence with her talent and which I hope will improve after the months she will spend in the FINA Training Center based in the Russian city of Kazan.
Anisley, who has in his development the indelible mark of José Antonio Guerra, the best Cuban ornamentalist of all time; and currently trained by Yudelka Alemán, she then brilliantly took over the I Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia, crowning herself on the one-meter springboard (276.5 dashes), as well as in the mixed team modality (471.2). scepters to which she added the bronze on the solo platform (285.85). As if to propel her to continue complicating her filigree from above.
Catherine New: One of the prodigal girls of Nelson Perales stamped, together with her teammate Yarisleidis Cirilo, an unprecedented performance in women’s canoeing: obtaining two medals in a World Cup for seniors, both being under 20 years of age.
In the waters of Copenhagen, Denmark, they surprised everyone with their subtitle in the C-2 at 200 meters and a time of 43.89, just one hundredth of the Spanish Patricia Coco-María Corbera. Previously they had combined efforts to win the bronze in the C-2 at 500, crossing the finish line after 1:57.70 minutes.
But that is not all, because in the second stop of the specialty World Cups, based in the icy waters of Barnaul, Russia, the Nuevo-Cirilo duo once again won the fleece in the C-2 500 meters thanks to 2:02.371 minutes-00:58.31 in the 250 partial.
Then Nuevo would repeat the title in singles at 200 meters at the I Junior Pan American Games in Cali-Valle, stopping the clocks in 36.74 seconds. His record was also seasoned with other outstanding performances, since reaching the final A of any modality in the Olympic Games, and dominating the Final B of the very strong World Cup in Szeged, Hungary, qualifying for Tokyo for others, are arguments more than enough to support your appointment.
To such an extent that with 222 stripes they command the universal ranking of the C-2 at 500 meters, and appear sixth in the C-2 at 200 with 90 points in their only Danish World Cup appearance.
Jose Ramon Pelier: Following the rope of canoeing, from my perspective one of the best disciplines within the Cuban sports movement in 2021, we turn to José Ramón Pelier, who at 21 years old and started canoeing at 15, has become a benchmark of the C-1 globally.
Pelier rubs shoulders side by side with the monsters of the elite, like the outstanding Brazilian Isaquias Queiroz. To such an extent that the Antillean commands the ranking of the world alone both at 1000 and 500 meters, supported by respective accumulated 228 and 216 units.
Of course, they still lack that supreme push, regardless of their seventh and ninth seats in said routes and that order in the Copenhagen World Cup.
Pelier hoarded a medal of each color in the World Cup circuit, at the rate of gold at a thousand meters in Barnaul (4:03.063), silver at 500 in that phase (1:52.377); and bronze in Szeged’s own 500 (1:53.847).
Then in Cali he reigned comfortably in the kilometer, where he stopped the clocks in 4:09.52 minutes. What perseverance, stability and way of rowing that of the blond-haired Guantanamo!!!
Juan Carley Vazquez: It is pleasing to think of having a ballista of universal quality in the future, especially when that test within Cuban athletics was practically dusty.
I am talking about Juan Carley Vázquez, king of the world among those under 20 years old in Nairobi, Kenya with a winning impulse of 19.73 meters in the decisive fly, and a sequence of records of (19.47-19.68-18.92-18.95-X), the best among the dozen finalists.
The current youth national record holder, approached his top of 20.32 there, but the most important thing turned out to be the stability evidenced over 18.90 meters, a range only reached by seven of the 12 winners in that final. In fact, Juan Carley landed fourth on the 2021 annual top list with the six-kilogram (19.84-meter) implement.
To which he adds his sixth place among the best in his category (17.85 meters) with the official bullet. Precisely that record gave him the third place in the fair of Cali, where he maintained stability in his shipments and exceeded his previous 17.60, which attests that he is competitive and is outlining his best performance in fundamental competitions.
That is the panorama my friends, I reiterate the criterion of accompanying these portents, and everyone who may arise, to ensure a quality sports relay. These four could give something to talk about at the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile 2023, and who knows if even in Paris 2024, where I trust that they will at least ensure their presence.
