Yoel Garcia and Aliecer Urrutia inducted in the CACAC Hall of Fame (© Javier Clavelo Robinson)
Cuba’s World and Olympic medallists Ioamnet Quintero, Yoel García and Aliecer Urrutia have been inducted into the Central American and Caribbean Athletics Confederation (CACAC) Hall of Fame during an official ceremony held on Sunday at Havana’s Melia Cohiba Hotel.
Quintero won Cuba’s first title in the history of the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, where she cleared 1.99m on 21 August 1993. Her countrywoman Silvia Costa completed a 1-2 for the Island.
Javier Sotomayor soared to 2.40 on the following day to seal a Cuban double in the High Jump.
Quintero achieved her personal bests in 1993: 2.00m outdoors and 2.01m indoors. The latter still stands as a CAC Indoor record.
In her extensive career spanning over 15 years, she participated in three Olympic Games, including a bronze medal in Barcelona’92. She also won the 1992 World Cup on home soil in Havana and added Pan American Games victories in 1991 and 1995. She hung her spikes in 2006.
On Sunday, Quintero was joined in the CACAC Hall of Fame by two key athletes who contributed to the long success of the Cuban school of Triple Jump: Yoel García and Aliecer Urrutia.
Urrutia shattered the World indoor record with 17.83m in the German city of Sindelfingen on 1 March 1997. His mark stood until March 2010, when France’s Teddy Tamgho improved it to 17.90.
Also in 1997, Urrutia trailed his countryman García for second at the World Indoor Championships in Paris and added a bronze medal in the summer at the World Championships in Athens, where his countryman Yoelbi Quesada won with a national record of 17.85.
Urrutia’s pedigree also includes an Olympic experience in Atlanta`96, the World University Games silver in 97 and the 1993 CAC silver when he was a junior starting his career.
“I feel like the day I broke the World Indoor record,” said Urrutia.
Garcia boasts another impressive CV, highlighted by his silver in Sydney 2000, the best performance ever by a Cuban triple jumper at the Olympics.
In 1997, he claimed the World Indoor gold in Paris and achieved his personal best (17.62) in Sindelfingen on the same day when Urrutia shattered the World record.
At the World Championships, he was close to the medals in Edmonton 2001, but lost the bronze in the fifth round. Both he and Urrutia ended their careers in 2004.
“We are thankful to the organizers. Today, it feels like the days when we were champions,” commented Garcia, who spoke on behalf of the awardees.
Quintero, García and Urrutia have joined 27 Cubans, including 22 athletes, already included in the exclusive group since the first ceremony was held in 2003. The list features Javier Sotomayor, Ana Fidelia Quirot, Silvio Leonard, Alberto Juantorena and Enrique Figuerola.
Other VIP attendees were IAAF Member Services Department director Elio Locatelli, IAAF Area Representative and NACAC chairman Neville McCook, CACAC chairman Víctor López and IAAF Council member and Cuban Federation president Alberto Juantorena.
Since the first ceremonies were held in 2003, other 50 former athletes, administrators and other athletics representing 11 countries have been awarded. The Hall of Fame inductees are reserved to World and/or Olympic medallists.
Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF
