Yarisley flies to the sky in golden pole vault

July 30, 2018

Monaco became the final stop of the Diamond League for Pinar del Río pole vaulter Yarisley Silva. There she posted her best mark of the season, a 4.80 meters (m) that greatly relieved the concerns the fans had about her and boosted optimism facing a possible title at the Central American and Caribbean Games, the most important competition for her and for Cuban sports this year. Furthermore, athletics is now seen, after halfway through the regional competition calendar, as the most effective boost for the Island in the medal count by country.

Well, according to what was written in the calculations, the Vueltabajera became this Sunday at Roberto Meléndez Stadium Cuba's first gold medalist in the sport of kings here, after winning a competition that did not demand much of her, contrary to the pressure she has had to deal with in her Diamond League appearances against the cream of the crop of her specialty in the world.

In this lower-level competition the Caribbean athlete prevailed with a mark of 4.70 m, consistent with the jumps she has been achieving in her most recent performances and in the process destroyed by ten centimeters the previous record for the competition, in her possession since Veracruz 2014.

In second place was Yarisley's strongest rival in the area, Venezuelan Robeilys Peinado, who left her best jump 20 centimeters below the Pinar del Río athlete's winning mark. With a personal best of 4.10 m, the 20-year-old from Holguín Lisa María Salomón obtained her best international result, finishing in third place.

Other performances by Cuban athletes who debuted on the first day of competition with medal performances were provided by discus thrower Jorge Yadián Martínez, second with a throw of 65.27 m and hammer throwers Elianis Despaigne (64.40 m, silver) and Yaritza Martínez (61.44 m, bronze).