Cuban-Born Andy Díaz Wins European Triple Jump Gold for Italy, Edging Fellow Cuban Pedro Pichardo

August 17, 2026

Andy Díaz, a triple jumper born in Havana who now competes for Italy, won the gold medal at the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on August 15, 2026, with a leap of 18.15 meters that set a new Italian national record and stands as the best mark in the world this season.

The jump ranks as the fourth-best in the history of the event, trailing only Britain's Jonathan Edwards, who holds the world record at 18.29 meters, American Christian Taylor at 18.21 meters, and Spain's Jordan Díaz — another Cuban-born jumper — at 18.18 meters. In the Birmingham final, Andy Díaz held off fellow Cuban-born athlete Pedro Pichardo, who competes for Portugal and took silver with 17.76 meters.

Díaz, born December 25, 1995, in Havana, competed for Cuba earlier in his career before obtaining Italian citizenship. He won the bronze medal in the triple jump at the Paris 2024 Olympics with a mark of 17.64 meters, and has since added the 2025 European Indoor title and back-to-back World Indoor titles in 2025 and 2026.

The result continues a striking pattern in international triple jump: three of the event's top performers in recent years — Díaz, Pichardo and Jordan Díaz — were all born in Cuba and now represent other countries, reflecting the island's deep tradition in the discipline.