High jumper Luis Enrique Zayas. Photo: Pavol Uhrin (Taken from JIT)

Havana, May 27 (JIT) - Cubans Luis Zayas and Sahily Diago dominated their events at the Jaén Paraíso Interior 2023 Athletic Meeting in the Spanish region of Andújar, which marked the start of the usual summer tour for the island's athletics team.

Zayas won the high jump with a mark of 2.22 meters, ahead of Spain's Carlos Rojas and Hungary's Peter Bakosi, both with 2.14 meters.

The Pan American champion in Lima 2019 has just jumped 2.28 in the recent Copa Cuba - national championship -, his best historical result on the island. Outdoors his personal best is 2.30 meters and surpassing that height constitutes his great challenge for the present campaign, in which, in addition to the Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023 (June-July), he must make inroads in the world competition of Budapest (August) and the Pan American Games of Santiago 2023 (October).

As for Sahily, she covered the 800 meters with 2:00.90 minutes, unprecedented for her in the current campaign. Behind her were Portugal's Patricia Silva (2:01.77) and Ethiopia's Firezewid Tesfaye (2:02.56).

The event, held at the Andrújar Sports Center, with bronze category of the World Athletics Continental Tour 2023, was attended by some 150 competitors from 39 nations.

Among the results were the records for the competition of the Brazilian Tatiane Raquel Da Silva, with 9:38.27 minutes in the 3 thousand meter steeplechase, and of the host María Belén Toimil in the shot put, thanks to a shot of 18.19 meters.

In the women's 200 meters, Great Britain's Ama Pipi (23.08 seconds) stole the show from the hosts Paula Sevilla (23.27) and Paula García (23.37), leaving the public eager to celebrate the triumph.

Among the hammer throwers, Germany's Merlin Hummel dominated with a personal best of 76.28 meters. And in the 400 meters hurdles the Spanish Jesús David Delgado won with a time of 50.07 seconds, somewhat far from the record of the meeting for that event, held by the Cuban Omar Cisneros since 2016, when he stopped the clocks in 49.56 seconds.

The participation of Cubans in European athletic meetings continues this Saturday and Sunday with the classic combined events Hypomeeting of Gotzis 2023, in Austria.

Adriana Rodriguez and Marys Patterson will compete in the heptathlon and Yancarlos Hernandez in the decathlon. Both events will have luxury protagonists, among which stand out the Canadian Damian Warner, Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020, and the British Katarina Johnson-Thompson, world queen in 2019.

On Sunday, at the Forbach meeting, the spotlight will be on Rose Mary Almanza (800 meters), Roxana Gómez (400) and Cristian Nápoles (triple).