Havana, December 30 (JIT)--  Cuban Ailsin Quiala ended the year with second place in the pole vault at the Navarra Indoor Athletics 2023, held in the Spanish city of Pamplona.

The student of Alexandre Navas finished with a mark of 4.30 meters and shared a place with the local Ana Carrasco Garcia, in an event won by the also host Andrea San Jose (4.40).

Quiala had an error-free sequence in the heights of 4.00, 4.10, 4.20 and 4.30 meters. Then she gave up the 4.35 meters and unsuccessfully sought the 4.40 meters, only achieved during the XIX Pan American Games of Santiago 2023, a little more than a month ago.

In the Chilean capital, the Santiago native won the bronze medal, a result that could mark her ascent according to the criteria of several experts.

Cuban pole vaulter Rosaidi Robles also took part in the Spanish event, but she finished without a mark after failing to clear 3.90 meters in three attempts.

Italy's Roberta Bruni, the Italian record holder and European champion in 2021, did not make her favoritism count. She finished at 4.30 meters, but with one more failure than Quiala and Carrasco. She had to settle for fourth place.

The 60m hurdles saw the long-awaited return of Asier Martínez, the reigning European 110m hurdles champion, who was unable to advance to the final.

In the previous race, the bronze medalist at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene 2022 passed over the last hurdles with an evident gesture of pain, a sign that he has not yet fully recovered from the injury that has kept him away from the track.

The Iberian event, with challenger category, served as a celebration for the centenary of the Navarra Athletics Federation.