High jumper Luis Zayas repeats triumph in Europe

February 16, 2020

The Cuban Luis Enrique Zayas triumphed in the high jump at the elite indoor athletics meet in Val de Reuil, France, and maintained his good streak in his debut in a winter season.

Although this time he fell short of his best mark, as he registered 2.24 meters, this was enough to prevail in a meeting in which Mexican Edgar Rivera finished second with 2.21 and local William Aubatin third with 2.18.

The Pan American champion from Lima 2019 proved less effective this time than in his previous performances, and even began the competition at a lower height than three days ago in Slovakia.

Zayas sought his first clearance at 2.10 meters and could only surpass it on the third attempt, something unusual since he is almost always very effective on his first attempts. He then cleared 2.15 without difficulty, surpassed 2.18 on his second opportunity and moments later missed 2.21.

He returned at 2.24 and also needed to try it on a couple of occasions, but in the end he was the only one to achieve that height.

The 2016 youth world champion began his current winter season in the Czech Republic and finished fifth there with 2.27 meters, but three days ago on Slovak soil he got his revenge in a big way with a victory of 2.33 and a personal record.

The Santiago native has been trained since 2018 by Juan Francisco Centelles and since then has shown himself to be stable and above all with sustained improvement in terms of marks.

This time he was accompanied in the first two presentations by world record holder Javier Sotomayor, who also supported him before in Lima and more recently at the World Championships in Doha where he was a finalist.

Zayas was to be one of seven Cubans at the Indoor World Championships in Nanjing, but with the postponement of the event he will only complete the three aforementioned meets and will then continue his preparation for the Cuba Cup in March as his next competitive event.

Precisely in France, but in the city of Lievin, the Cubans will see each other again soon since on the 19th pole vaulter Yarisley Silva and triple jumpers Jordan Díaz and Cristian Nápoles will compete there.

Two days later, on the 21st, long jumper Juan Miguel Echevarría and triple jumper Liadamis Povea will make their debut in Madrid.

Both meets, Lievin and Madrid, are phases of the Indoor Tour of the season and should bring together several of the stars who, like the Cubans, were preparing for the postponed world championships in China.