Cuban long jumper Leinier Savón wins silver medal in Tokyo

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 30 (ACN) Leinier Savón won the silver medal Sunday in the long jump at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo with a personal best of 7.16 m to give Cuba its first medal in this event.

Savón, who competes in the T12 category (profound visual impairment), started with a record-setting 6.92 m, at that time his best performance ever, but in his fifth attempt he reached 7.01 m to guarantee his presence as third on the podium.

Not satisfied with this, he flew to 7.16 m in his last attempt and finished second, just five centimeters shy of the Iranian Amir Khosravani’s gold-winning jump and ahead of the Azeri Said Najafzade, who won the bronze medal with 7.03 m.

His mark was also a record for the American continent, which shows that he was in very good shape.

Before Tokyo, Savón’s personal best was 6.89 m—6.73 in the current season—so he outmatched himself more than once to finish with a much-deserved silver medal.

Gold-winner in Rio 2016 in both the 100 m and the 200 m races, Savón got his third Paralympic metal, leaving behind the bitter taste of his failure to qualify for the 100 m final in Tokyo.

The other Cuban long jumper, Angel Jimenez, finished ninth with 6.25 m, far from his personal best of 7.14 m.