News06 Feb 2006


Savigne has double ambitions in Moscow

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Yargelis Savigne of Cuba in the Triple Jump final (© Getty Images)

Havana, CubaIt only took a year for Yargelis Savigne to enter the world elite of women’s long and triple Jumping, claiming the silver medal in the latter event at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki.

Six months after her surprising performance in the Finnish capital, where she was also fourth in the Long Jump, she has set high ambitions for her indoor debut as she plans to do both events at the 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Moscow, Russia, 10 -12 March.

In 2005, "I definitely had my best season ever,” confirmed the 21-year-old who comes from Guantánamo. “People keep asking me if I will do the two events. I like them both, but the Long Jump is my favourite as I have done it since I started athletics. I will continue to do both until I can't improve in one of them.”

"My family, specially my mom, and my boyfriend (world Triple Jump indoor record holder Aliecer Urrutia) were surprised. After being absent from the Olympics, the best they expected from me was to qualify for the final. He (Urrutia) told me that I look like him jumping, but I should keep working on certain details.”

High hopes for Moscow

After resuming training in October, "I have improved my strength, technique, speed, my standing five-jump best and my movements on the air as well.”

Savigne will compete in Europe prior to deciding whether to attempt the double in Moscow, and recently jumped a wind-assisted 6.81 in the Long Jump at a competition at home.

"I believe it will be a little more difficult indoors. Tracks are usually assembled and you have to adapt your run-up to a rhythm in order to take off well from the board," she added.

"But I also had little experience in major competitions before Helsinki and I jumped well. Why not in Moscow?"

For her double attempt in the Russian capital, saving energy is key. She will enter the Triple qualification on Friday 10 March, followed by the Long Jump qualification on the Saturday morning and the Triple Jump final four hours later on Saturday. The Long Jump medals will be decided on Sunday.

"There is little rest, but I can do it. If I train well, I can be successful at both. I will do more Long Jump indoors and I hope to improve in every competition as I get used to the track surface.”

"For me, both events complement each other. I do the hop like a Long Jump. The step is obviously the shortest, but my speed helps and being a long jumper also helps to land far. My coach has been able to add those missing elements in training.”
However, her coach Milan Matos is more cautious about her plans. "She can do it, but we would rather see how she responds to the winter and indoor competitions before we set a realistic goal.”

A rapid rise to the top in 2005

With lack of Long Jump competitions in the European circuit last year, Savigne gave it a try at the Triple Jump and made her serious debut in Bilbao, Spain, on 18 June 2005, where she landed at 14.12m. In two weeks, she improved to 14.56 in Zaragoza and then 14.63 in Padova. She was ready to do both events in Helsinki.

En route to her silver medal in the Finnish capital, she bettered her personal best four times in the final and erased former Cuban Yamilé Aldama's six-year old national (14.77) record with a 14.82 leap. So Savigne became at 20 years of age the second youngest Cuban to claim a World Championships individual medal, being only six days older than Yipsi Moreno (gold in Edmonton 2001).

She later took part in her first three Golden League meetings, finishing in fourth place in Zurich and third place in Brussels and Berlin, and ended the season with a third place finish at the World Athletics Final in Monaco, where she was only 0.01m from her national standard and beat Jamaica's World champion Trecia Smith for the first time.

In the Long Jump, she improved her personal best from 6.63m to 6.77m in Havana, before winning a Grand Prix II meeting in Prague and the Central American and Caribbean title in Nassau, with a wind-aided 6.88m effort. In Helsinki, she completed a very successful World Champs debut with a fourth place (6.69m). She was finally ranked sixth in the Long Jump and fifth in the Triple Jump in the IAAF World Rankings.

Seven and fifteen in her sight

Seven and fifteen continue to be her magic numbers.

"It is a matter of time. I can attain these goals training hard and with a good will.” Seven metres mean breaking the national mark (6.99), set by Lisset Cuza in 2000. If she does break these two barriers, she will join Ukraine's Inessa Kravets and Russia's Tatyana Lebedeva in the exclusive 7-15 club.

Lebedeva, the Golden League Jackpot winner and 2004 Triple and Long World Indoor champion, is Savigne's reference point. They first met at the Helsinki mixed zone, where the Russian praised the Cuban's talent.

"She is fast and I competed with her four times after Helsinki. She improves in every round and I like that tactic. I hope to see her again in Moscow," Savigne says of the Russian star.
Up to 2004, Savigne was overshadowed by her training partner, 20-year old Yudelkis Fernandez, Cuba’s sole representative in the Olympic Long Jump in Athens 2004. Her international experience was limited by very few competitions, winning the bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo.

Savigne trains in a group led by Ivan Pedroso, winner of nine World titles (indoors and out), as well as the Olympic gold in Sydney 2000. The Long Jump squad, under Matos´ guidance, also includes Ibrahím Camejo (PB 8.24), Wilfredo Martinez (PB 8.04), 2000 World Junior Championship silver medallist Yoelmis Pacheco (PB 8.18) and Yudelkis Fernandez (PB 6.74).

Savigne, who studies Physical education at the Higher Sports Institute in Havana, has become one of the most promising athletes in Cuba's younger track and field generation. She also hopes to add the Central American and Caribbean Games title to her pedigree in Cartagena, Colombia, 15 - 30 July, and to make the Americas team for the IAAF World Cup in Athens, 16 -17 September.

Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF

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