News24 Dec 2007


Savigne leads Cuban charge for Valencia

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Yargelis Savigne in Turin (© Lorenzo Sampaolo)

Osaka Triple Jump World champion Yargelis Savigne leads the list of 16 Cuban athletes training for the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships, to be held in Valencia, March 7-9, 2008.

The Pan American gold medallist and World Athletics Final winner will only compete in the Triple Jump, as opposed to Moscow 2006, where she was fifth in that event and sixth in the Long Jump.

Training in Guatemala

"I want to focus on the Triple, but plan to do both at the Beijing Olympics as the calendar allows me to," said the 23-year-old, who led the season with 15.28m, a mark that places her sixth on the all-time list.

"Training is probably harder than ever before, but I am convinced to keep going. Medals don't fall from the sky, we have to start winning them now," said Savigne who is currently training in Guatemala.

"I am working on improving my technique and this is the right time to do so."

Aiming for the gold means she is taking on the challenge of Russia's two-time defending champion Tatyana Lebedeva, who told Savigne in a recent conversation of the her intentions of retaining her title in the Spanish city.

After a training camp in Guatemala, Savigne will return home on January 12 and will travel to Europe a week later to compete 4-5 times before Valencia.

Savigne and sprint hurdler Dayron Robles are the Island's top medal bets for the global event as Cuba hopes to win its first World Indoor title since Ivan Pedroso dominated the Long Jump in 2001.

"High performance means a lot of sacrifice, but the toughest of all is being away from my family. My mom visited me in Havana on my birthday (November 13) and I have no idea when I will see her again," she added.

However, she smiled and asserted that "I am physiologically prepared.  I have a heart to keep going. I don't know who will win, but I trust myself in every battle."

Robles aims high too

In Valencia, she will be joined by Dayron Robles, a surprising silver medallist in Moscow 2006, who broke the CAC record and equalled the season's world leading mark ( 12.92), set by Liu Xiang, in winning the 2007 World Athletics Final in Stuttgart.

Last winter, the 21-year-old ran the fastest 60m Hurdles time since 2003, with 7.38.

The squad also features triple jumpers Yoandri Betanzos, Osniel Tosca, Alexis Copello, David Giralt and Arianna Martinez, high jumper Victor Moya and long jumpers Hector Dayron Fuentes and Wilfredo Martinez.

Betanzos was third at the past two World Indoor Champs in Budapest and Moscow, while Moya was fourth in the Russian capital.

Tosca, fourth in Osaka, Copello, Giralt, Martinez, Fuentes and Martinez are expected to make their World Indoor Championships debut.

Sprint hurdlers Yoel Hernandez and Anay Tejeda, 2006 Moscow finalist Henry Vizcaino and Virgen Benavides also have high expectations for Valencia.

In the field, hopes are focused on 2004 Olympic champion and World Indoor runner-up Yumisleidi Cumba and 2007 Pan American Games gold medallist Misleydis Gonzalez.

These athletes, also strong candidates to make the Olympic team are currently training in Martinique and Guatemala, indistinctively, before flying for their indoor tour in Europe in January to complete their preparation for Valencia.

Cuba has attended all previous World Indoor Championships with a total haul of medals 35 medals (13 gold, 14 silver and eight bronze).

In Moscow 2006, the Island obtained one silver (Robles) and one bronze (Betanzos).

Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF

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