Multiple Independent Media they reported this Sunday that the best Cuban pole vaulter in history, Yarisley Silva, requested to be removed from the national athletics team along with her coach Alexander Navas. OnCuba confirmed the news with sources close to the King of Sport Federation on the Island.
Although the reasons for the decision are not known, it is in the public domain that the 34-year-old athlete from Pinar del Río has not been satisfied with the management of the Cuban athletics authorities from last year to date, a period in which she has lived a notable drop in his performance, to the point that he has not been able to jump more than 4.65 meters in the few competitive opportunities he has had.
Yarisley, the London Olympic runner-up and indoor and outdoor world champion, regained some momentum this year in the winter season, but logistical difficulties prevented her from participating in the recent global indoor competition in Belgrade, Serbia.
The volleyball player, who had managed to be included in the small Antillean delegation for the event, was finally unable to compete because her poles did not reach the Balkan lands on time, without forgetting that she had previously faced problems with her visa that forced her to travel to Cuba from Europe and then return to the Old Continent.
“(The poles) were going to be sent directly from Spain, but the member of the Federation in charge of moving them tested positive for COVID-19 and had to stay in Spain. Yarisley Silva’s supplies could not be shipped and, although efforts were made to get them through other channels, the problem could not be resolved “, pointed out at that time the national athletics commissioner, Yipsi Moreno.
Faced with such a setback, Yarisley declined to participate in the event with the poles that the organizers make available to the athletes, considering that she would not achieve her best performance with implements with which she was not familiar.
This could have been the trigger for the definitive rupture between the Pinar del Rio woman, her coach and the Cuban Athletics Federation, which until now has not ruled on the dismissal of one of its best exponents in the last decade.
Yarisley Silva owns the cuban records outdoor pole vault (4.91) and indoor (4.82). In addition, he won silver at the London 2012 Olympic Games and finished among the top eight in the summer events of Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. In World Championships, he took gold in the Beijing 2015 outdoor competition, and bronze in Moscow 2013 and London 2017, as well as the gold medal in the global indoor track competition in Sopot, Poland, in 2014.
