Havana, September 17 (JIT) - The three athletes who were to represent Cuba this weekend in the final of the 2023 Diamond League, to be held in the U.S. city of Eugene, did not receive visas to travel to that country. 

Rolando Charroo Estrada, national commissioner of athletics, confirmed this to JIT in reference to triple jumpers Leyanis Perez and Liadagmis Povea, and high jumper Luis Enrique Zayas.

"Although it was known that they would have a chance to reach the final because of their results, it was not until August 31 that the official communication was received from the circuit organizers. That same day the three athletes had participated in the Diamond League stop held in the Swiss city of Zurich. Only from that moment on could the application for visas be made," the executive explained. 

"After that competition, the boys went to Spain, where they had been concentrated prior to the world competition, to return to Cuba. We tried to make visa applications there, but we were informed that there were only appointments available for 2025," he added. 

"We then proceeded to make the application in Havana, where they would return on September 10. The U.S. Embassy scheduled the appointment for September 12," Charroo detailed.

"The athletes qualified for the finals, and their coaches, went to the diplomatic headquarters and after the procedure was completed they were informed that the applications were under an administrative process," he added. 

"As is logical, this leaves us with no possibility of attending the event to be held this weekend," the commissioner commented. 

Cuban triple jumpers were among the main cheerleaders of the U.S. event, as happened at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest 2023, when Leyanis won the bronze medal.

Although the final is a clean slate and the winner takes the prize, the young Pinar del Rio athlete arrived at Hayward Field as third in the ranking of the circuit, thanks to the 26 points accumulated with her victory in the Rabat stop and the second, third and fourth places obtained in the segments of Oslo, Silesia and Zurich, in that order.

In the same list, Povea appears in the sixth position with 16 units, added with his fourth places in Rabat and Silesia, plus the third step occupied in the Swiss city. 

The furthest from the top positions was Luis Enrique, although his performance in the Hungarian capital was very good. There he finished fourth with his outdoor personal best: 2.33 meters.

In the classification of the Diamond League, the Santiago native finished seventh with 11 stripes, after reaching third place in Florence, sixth in Silesia and seventh in Zurich.