Sotomayor's Son is Spain's U-16 High Jump Champion

March 29, 2022

Sotomayor's Son, Spain's U-16 Champion!

Published by Play-Off Magazine | Mar 28, 2022 | News | 1

With the weight of his surname and history on his shoulders, the young son of Javier Sotomayor, Jaxier, is already beginning to show signs of his quality and was crowned champion of Spain in the national U-16 championship.

According to Raúl Rodríguez on his Facebook account, Jaxier Sotomayor, son of the Prince of Heights, prevailed in the competition with a jump of 1.91 m, with which he improved his personal best by 4 centimeters.

"We're going for gold. I see him very well," said a proud Sotomayor after watching his son make his first jumps on the indoor track in Sabadell, Barcelona, Jaxier's mother, Yosleidy Gómez, told this reporter," reports colleague Rodríguez.

According to DeporCuba, Jaxier widely surpassed the other podium finishers, Iker Diaz Montill (1.85) and Joaquín González Granados (1.83).

The jump sequence of the teenager member of Club C.D.MELIZ SPORT was as follows: Sequence: 1.73 O/1.77 O/1.80 O/1.83 O/1.85 O/1.87 O/1.89 -/1.91 O/1.93 -/1.95 XXX.

Jaxier will turn 15 years old and has a remarkable height as his calling card, with conditions that suggest in him an athlete with the ability to attempt to improve his results.

In 2021, Javier Sotomayor's son competed in the Spain Championship of Autonomous Federations, in the U-16 category, which took place at the Luis Ocaña Athletic Track in Cuenca.

At the event, the tall athlete had his first national competition in Spain, in which he was the youngest jumper among those present, as reported by Milan Ruzic.

Despite his younger age, Sotomayor's son finished with a notable fifth place thanks to his jump of 1.78 meters.

Without a doubt, it is an enormous challenge for Javier Sotomayor's son to forge his own career without the figure of his father, world record holder in the specialty with 2.45 meters, adding more pressure.

Comparisons will always be inevitable, though unfair, as Cuban Javier Sotomayor is the greatest high jumper in history, something of which there is no doubt.

In fact, the certainty is even greater when we recall that he jumped 2.33 meters with just 16 years of age!, on May 19, 1984, at the Pedro Marrero stadium in Havana, which remains the record for under-18s to this day.

Javier was a precocious jumper who, before reaching 20 years old, already dominated 2.30 m heights, altitudes that for many are impossible to achieve.

But his defining moment came on July 27, 1993, when Salamanca itself was inscribed in the record books with the 2.45 jump that remains unbeaten before the eyes of the rest.