Leyanis Pérez

Havana, Sep 14 (RHC) A single valid jump was enough this Friday for Cuban Leyanis Perez to win in Brussels, Belgium, her first victory in a triple jump final of the Diamond League.

The Pinar del Río native, who finished fifth at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, scored 14.37 meters in her second attempt, enough to win the coveted gem. Jamaican Shanieka Ricketts and Ackelia Smith with 14.22 and 14.11 meters, respectively, escorted the young Cuban exponent of only 22 years old.

"It was a bit of an unexpected outcome. The weather was not with me, it was too cold to make a better mark, although we were all in equal conditions", said Leyanis, after completing a sequence in which she committed five faults, something very unusual for her.

The Budapest 2023 world bronze medalist thus completed her successful passage through the diamond circuit, as she had come out on top at the stops held in Eugene, Stockholm and Monaco, and was second in Silesia before completing the reign in the Belgian capital.

Her performance this Friday should close her competitive calendar this year, which had among its highlights the silver medal at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow 2024.

The Diamond League 2024 will close this Saturday with a program, that among its main attractions, is the final of the men's triple jump. The Cuban presence will be repeated in that event through Lázaro Martínez, one of the six announced candidates.

Brazil's Almir Dos Santos, Pedro Pablo Pichardo from Portugal, France's Jean-Marc Pontvianne, Germany's Max Heb and Hugues Fabrice Zango, from Burkina Faso, will be the other aspirants to win the prestigious award. (Taken from JIT).