Cuban stars to
shine at Memorial Barrientos
Javier
Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF
22 May 2001 – Havana – Several Cuban Olympic and world medallists will compete in the Cuban Cup Memorial Jose Barrientos, which starts next Friday (25 May), and marks the opening of the outdoor season for many Caribbean athletes.
Javier Sotomayor, high jump world record holder and six-time global champion, will be the top attraction of the competition, which includes representatives from eight countries.
This will be the first outdoor appearance of Barcelona Olympic champion whose main objective remains the World title in Edmonton, Canada.
Several other Cuban world class athletes are expected to perform well next week, especially triple jumpers Joel Garcia, silver medallist in Sydney, Yoelbi Quesada, 1997 World champion and Aliecer Urrutia, the world indoor record holder.
In the throws, world class performances are expected from javelin throwers Emeterio Gonzalez, who finished 8th in Sydney, Osleidys Menendez, Olympic bronze medallist, Sonia Bisset and Xiomara Rivero, who were both finalists in Sydney.
Yipsi Morena, Olympic fourth-place finisher, will take part in the hammer throw contest.
On the track, Daimi Pernia, 400m hurdles World champion, Yunier Hernandez, 110m hurdles World junior champion and Yoel Hernandez, silver medallist at the 1999 Panamerican Games in Winnipeg over the 110m hurdles, will make their season debut in the Cuban capital.
Olympic champions Ivan Pedroso and Anier Garcia, both recently injured, are the biggest absentees from the competition.
Created in 1950, the Cuban Cup Memorial Barrientos is one of the oldest athletics competitions in Latin America and for its 2001 edition representatives of Ecuador, Jamaica, Dominica, Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Guatemala and Puerto Rico have already confirmed their participation.
The competition will start on Friday 25 May and run through Sunday 27 May in the Panamerican Stadium in Havana. It will also be the only competition for Cuban athletes on their home soil.
