Denia Caballero wins gold medal in Huelva with a throw of 69.20 meters

June 21, 2019

The Cuban Denia Caballero won the gold medal in discus throw at the Ibero-American Athletics Meeting held in Huelva, Spain, where she achieved the best mark of the season with 69.20 meters.

Caballero, world champion from Beijing 2015 and Olympic bronze medalist from Rio de Janeiro 2016, surpassed herself by breaking the 68.46 meters achieved in mid-last month, which was until this Thursday the longest record of the year.

Yaimé Pérez (67.27 m), her teammate, finished second in that event in what was a new chapter of the sporting rivalry between the two; while Brazilian Andressa de Morais (63.90 m) achieved third place.

A few days ago, on June 16th at the sixth stop of the Diamond League, held in Rabat, Morocco, the two Cuban discus throwers achieved the 1-2 with Pérez as the winner with a throw of 68.28 m; while Caballero (65.94 m) came in second.

For the outstanding athletes, these events are part of their preparation for the Lima Pan American Games, to be held from July 26 to August 11 next, a competition in which they are serious contenders to occupy the two top positions in that event.

Back at the athletics meet in Huelva, the Caribbean nation earned three more gold medals through Roxana Gómez, in the 400 meters, Maikel Mass (long jump) and hurdler Zurian Hechavarría, in addition to a silver medal from triple jumper Liadagmis Povea.

In Gómez's case, she crossed the finish line first with a time of 52.37 seconds, and Hechavarría needed 55.40 seconds to win in the 400 meters hurdles, with her best mark of the season, according to the official site of the event.

Mass, in the long jump, was the most modest with just 7.83 m, far from his real possibilities, and finally Povea planted her spikes at a distance of 14.45 meters, surpassed by world champion Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas (15.06 m), who set a record for her country with the best mark of the year.