Cuban triple jumper Andy Díaz achieves World Championship with national record

March 22, 2025

The first day of the World Indoor Athletics Championship took place on March 21st and brought contrasting news for those born in Cuba, due to the performances of triple jumpers Andy Díaz and Lázaro Martínez, who had very different fortunes in the final of the event that brought together some of the most valuable and brilliant athletes in the discipline. Díaz, representing Italy, was crowned world champion with a superb performance, while the Guantanamo-native Martínez sank to the back positions.

This competition was highly anticipated despite the absence of two aces of triple jump in the world, such as Spanish Jordan Díaz and Portuguese Pedro Pablo Pichardo, who, facing physical discomfort, set their objectives for the future and did not attend this competition in the Chinese city of Nanjing.
A display of Andy Díaz's power

Andy Díaz, who arrived at this competition with a best mark of the year of 17.71 meters, asserted his authority and soared to 17.80 meters on his very first attempt, which meant a personal best, the leading mark of the year and a national record for Italy. Truly astounding!

The naturalized Italian, who just a few weeks ago became European champion, had only one valid jump, as he used up his remaining attempts with pass-ups and fouls. However, the distance that dominated became unreachable for the rest of his rivals and he achieved another successful result in his ascending sports career.

Andy Díaz erased in a second the 17.75 meter mark that was his personal boundary, which suggests that the Havana-born athlete could join the "18-meter club" in a short period of time. The progression since he left Cuba has been steady and aimed at more ambitious objectives.
Poor performance by Lázaro Martínez

The other side of the coin was Lázaro Martínez, who wore the colors of the island in this World Championship. That athlete's performance fell well short of expectations and barely reached 14.04 meters, placing him in thirteenth place. The eastern jumper had a decent previous period, but on this March 21st he was completely erratic and did not come close to his best form.

As an interesting note on this event, mention should be made of the sanction received by Brazilian Almir Dos Santos. At first, everything seemed to indicate that the South American would be the bronze medalist, thanks to the 17.22 meters he recorded. However, Dos Santos was disqualified for using unauthorized footwear.