Yipsi Moreno of Cuba celebrates winning the hammer throw (© Getty Images)
Competing amidst the most fervent partisan atmosphere of the week in the Stade de France, Cuba’s 22 year-old Yipsi Moreno bravely dashed French hopes for gold in the women’s Hammer competition with a marvellous 73.33m release in the second round to retain her title.
The near capacity crowd raised the roof with a wave of noise and applause each time home favourite Manuela Montebrun, 22, made her way to the throwing cage. Yet despite ultimately securing the bronze there was to be no ‘Raquilesque’ crowd stirring moment at the end of the competition. There was to be no late surge for Montebrun, similar to the dramatic drive to the finish which out of nothing brought France a 400m medal on Tuesday night (26 Aug). In fact the crowd became increasingly subdued by the Cuban’s brilliance as the competition unfolded.
All attempts at alchemy failed in the Stade tonight, and bronze thanks to a throw of 70.92m remained the colour of Montebrun’s reward.
Olga Kuzenkova, the European champion was also found wanting though her fourth round 71.71m response to Moreno was a class act in itself.
Moreno was quite simply just too good, and Montebrun’s wide grimace as she left the ring after her last throw summed up the situation entirely.
A lightning fast spin and release rather than sheer power and weight is the key to Moreno’s throwing and tonight’s result was all the more impressive as most throwers at Paris 2003 Saint-Denis have described the circle as particularly slow.
Coming into these championships having set an Area record of 75.14m in Savona, Italy on 17 July (the longest throw of 2003), and having taken the Pan Am Games title with 74.25m, the Cuban was the realistic, if not in the eyes of the French crowd, the romantic favourite for gold.
Yet a romantic figure is exactly what Moreno is, well certainly within the ranks of the young discipline of women’s Hammer throwing. When the women’s Hammer was first introduced into Cuban athletics, now some ten years ago, the national federation was desperate to have a representative in the event and basically told Moreno, who was then a Discus thrower that she was going to switch events. There was simply no choice in the matter.
This was the great little human interest angle which lit up the news wires after her first World victory in Edmonton. Moreno is surely the only World champion ever to have been ‘press ganged’ on to her gold medal campaign.
But as we also discovered in 2001 it was the inspiration of her coach Eliadio Hernandez, who won the men’s Hammer title at the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games, which provided her motivation to succeed, and still does today.
Also “Cuban athletes have one great advantage as we compete from our heart,” Moreno confirmed.
It’s a combination of this spirit mixed with Moreno’s own example which has led to “a lot of women hammer throwers now being on the scene in Cuba” confirmed the winner. “There were three throwers who had qualified for Paris, one at 69m, one at 70m and myself.” The future is bright, “the one who is over 70 is only 20 years of age, but neither of them could come due to injury.”
Moreno is the past and the present of women's Hammer throwing in Cuba, and increasingly also the inspiration for the future.
”Next year in Athens look out for the Cuban women in this event, because we are a very strong team.”
IAAF
