Juan Carley Vazquez
Cuban athletics has already moved at the Pan American Stadium

Havana, February 13 (JIT) - The monotony of training sessions came to a halt this weekend at the Pan American Stadium in Havana, where the bulk of the national track and field team took part in the first official confrontation of the current season.

As it is logical, the figures who train and compete on European soil were absent, especially the jumpers, on whom rest the greatest options to achieve good results at the highest level.

However, it was a pleasant opportunity to see in action others who should progress as the campaign progresses, because beyond the marks, the objective is to evaluate the results of the work done at this stage of the preparation.

It was positive to see the return of Roxana Gómez, who has been away from the track for the last few months due to an injury and now has a time of 51.96 seconds.

It is important to note that her recovery is going well, as she is a key figure for her contribution to the world title in the 4x400 meters relay and for her condition of Olympic finalist in Tokyo 2020 with her personal best: 49.71 seconds.

This time she also ran the 200 meters and registered 23.90 seconds, her first time in the distance with electronic timing.

The young sprinter Yarima García, who proved her talent in the 100 and 200 meter races, also attracted attention. In the hectometer she achieved 11.77 seconds, close to her personal best of 11.56 seconds, and led the first heat of the 200 in 24.06 seconds.

In the field, there was action in the discus for men, with the experienced Jorge Fernandez (62.37 meters) and Mario Diaz (61.15) with throws beyond 60 meters, according to information provided by statistician Alfredo Sanchez.

The shot put was dominated by the world youth champion of Kenya 2021, Juan Carley Vázquez, with a shot of 17.71 meters. The interesting thing was to see him throw with a new technique.

Until now his movement in the circle was linear, but his coach Misleydis Gonzalez varied that mechanics towards rotation in search of greater speed and to be in line with the technique used by the world's leading figures.

"We started this process last October, it still takes a little while to adjust, but I'm sure it will bear fruit," the silver medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and who guided Juan Carley to his world reign in the U-20 category, told JIT.

"This is how the best-performing men and women in the world throw. Rotating gives greater speed to the execution and therefore the bullet comes out with greater velocity," he explained before confirming that the growth in his results will not be seen immediately. 

With the adult implement, in May 2022, Juan Carley set his best mark at 18.84 meters. He needs to gain distance to get closer to the elite of the specialty.

"For now, the work is going well," says his coach, who hopes to have a more accurate assessment of what has been proposed in the medium term.

The confrontations of the national team will continue every weekend until March. Then they will alternate with competitive commitments such as the Copa Cuba de Atletismo 2022 and the usual championships by specialties.