Osleidys Menendez (CUB) - World Javelin record holder (© Getty Images)
Women’s World Javelin record holder Osleidys Menendez has enjoyed the taste of winning during her career, but in 2003 also learned a lot from a below par season.
With the 2004 Olympics in her sight, the Cuban looks confidently towards adding more achivements to her already illustrious throwing pedigree.
In fact with only a month and a half after her training for the 2004 season commenced, the 24 year-old athlete is satisfied with her progress. "It has been perfect so far and I hope everything will continue this way", she commented.
Making an assessment of 2003, her worst season at senior level, Menendez admits that "we did not have the results we expected, but we will definitely be able to recover our best form. My family, my friends and my coach have been very supportive and I feel encouraged to go on.”
Loss of form in 2003
The best Cuban sportswoman in 2001 and 2002 started her 2003 season with a 63.96m effort to win the national title in late May. Then she and her coach Dionisio Quintana travelled to Turin, Italy, but visa problems prevented her from competing in Europe.
"The training centre (in which she was based) was not ready to host so many athletes (almost the entire Cuban team) and it was not well equipped for weight-lifting,” Quintana explained.
As a consequence Menendez lost her form. With no tune-up competitions, Menendez was far from her best technique and she also lacked the competitive edge one needs to draw upon in major events. She also started to feel some pain in her throwing arm.
A clear favourite to claim the gold medal in the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Menendez only managed 60.20m and finished third, behind USA's Kim Kreiner (60.86) and Bahamas' Laverne Eve (60.68).
With such poor results, Quintana felt his pupil was not ready to perform well in the World Championships, but Menendez convinced him that she should still travel to Paris.
A 61.74m first effort in the qualifying round in Paris showed a better 'looking' Menendez, but two days later, she could only improve to 62.19 to finish fifth in a low par final, 0.61 metres from the bronze medal.
I have learnt from my losses
"It is great to win, but I have also learned from losses. I am convinced that training time cannot be wasted. Now, I cannot look back, but just have to focus on doing things right to aim at the Olympic gold.”
She has now just completed her general physical base, in which she covered strength, endurance and technique, as well as other aspects to enhance her capacities and keep her injury-free.
Menendez’ coach has divided the training plan in two periods: one extending from October to March and the second one leading up to the Olympics.
She trains 4-5 hours a day in morning and afternoon sessions at the Estadio Panamericano in eastern Havana, where her training partners are Noraida Bicet (62.40-pb) and 20-year old Yudel Moreno, who owns the national men’s junior record with 73.72m. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, she attends her third year studies in Physical Education at the Higher Sports Institute in the Cuban capital.
When Menendez has a chance, she visits her mother Dora, one sister and three brothers in her hometown Marti, Matanzas, some 150km east of Havana. They all celebrated Osleidys' 24th birthday together on November 14 and they plan to gather again for a New Year's celebration.
The coach and Menendez’ earlier career
Dionisio Quintana, who threw the javelin competitively (1971 to 1987) with a 84.35 personal best (old model), has trained Menendez since 1994 after her first coach Noel Serrat - who discovered her strong arm - recommended that he take her to Havana, where there are better training conditions.
Under Quintana’s guidance, Menendez won her first international competition in the 1995 at the Pan American Junior Championships in Santa Fe, Argentina. She went on to win two World Junior titles in Sydney'96 and Annecy'98. At the age of 18, she made her debut at World senior Championships in Athens taking a good sixth place.
The Central American and Caribbean title in Maracaibo'98 was followed by the 1999 Pan American crown in Winnipeg, and the Olympic bronze in Sydney 2000.
Menendez’s big year was 2001, when she became the first woman to break the 70-metres barrier (71.54) with the new specification javelin. She also claimed the gold medal at the World Championships in Edmonton, the World University Games in Beijing, and the Goodwill Games in Brisbane.
She was not as in 2002, but she won when it counted: the IAAF Grand Prix Final in Paris and the World Cup in Madrid.
2004 and beyond
"We know how to return to the top. More than the rivals, we need to make sure our plan is fulfilled both in training and competitions, and the good results will come back," said Quintana.
"Women's Javelin in general had a poor 2003, both in Europe and in Cuba. But Menendez will need to throw over 68 metres to win the Olympic gold. Evidently, Mirela Manjani will be the major threat as she will be competing on home soil," he added.
In 2004, Menendez plans to have her first competitions in February-March and then travel to Europe in May to compete 8-10 times, depending on how she feels. She plans to stop competing 15 days before the Olympics.
"I love what I do and I want to continue doing it for a long time,” said Menendez. “I am calm and very confident I will be soon on top. After a good performance in the Olympics, I will try to stay consistent and see how much further I can take my World record.”
With Menendez, Bicet, 2001 Edmonton World Championships bronze medallist Sonia Bisset and two-time Olympic finalist Xiomara Rivero, Cuba will aim to place three women in the 2004 Athens Olympic final, as they did in Sydney and Edmonton.