Ups and downs of Cuban athletics in 2022

 HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 29 (ACN) Cuban athletics ends the year 2022 with several achievements. One great joy was triathlete Lazaro Martinez’s gold medal with a personal best 17.64 m in triple jump in the 18th World Indoor Championships held in March in Belgrade, Serbia, as were the five gold, three silver and two bronze medals won in May in the Ibero-American Athletics Championships held in Alicante, Spain. The champions were Martínez himself, Shainer Reginfo (100 m), Yaimé Pérez (discus throw), Leyanis Pérez (triple jump) and Greisys Lázara Robles (100 m hurdles)
 
Cuba also notched up outstanding results in July during the 1st Caribbean Games held in Guadeloupe, where young athletes won four gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
 
However, there were a few letdowns, including Cuba’s poor performance in the 18th World Championships in Eugene, U.S.A., where our athletes finished in 29th place and won no medals for the first time in the history of these outdoor athletic events. It was a far cry from the island’s results in Doha 2019, where they won a medal of each color and finished 12th, together with Bahrein and Sweden.
 
As to the Wanda 2022 Diamond League, held in September in Zurich, Switzerland, our best performance was long jumper Maykel Massó’s bronze medal with 8.05 m.