Yipsi Moreno will continue competing, now with the flag of Albania

May 13, 2025

When it seemed that her athletic career had ended long ago, the stellar hammer thrower Yipsi Moreno came out of retirement last year and now could return to competing internationally for a country. That country, however, will not be Cuba, but Albania.

The Cuban's debut as a representative of that European nation does not seem far off. The champion of hammer throw at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games has received the corresponding permits for her new adventure more than a decade after ending her career on the island.

According to a note published on the specialized website Deporcuba, the former national athletics commissioner would have received authorization from World Athletics to compete for that nation.

Yipsi surprised followers of King Sport after some time from her controversial departure from office. The news that she had returned to throwing the implement at 44 years old was initially met with bewilderment, but her results are striking given her age.

The publication highlights that since April 13 to date the Camagüeyan has competed in three events, and in all of them she set records above 60 meters.

On April 12, at a competition held in Portugal, she registered a throw of 61.76 meters. And a day later, at the International Throws Tournament in Vila Nova de Cerveira, also in Portuguese territory, she reached 66.59 meters, the best since her return.

Her most recent competitive outing dates from May 9, when she concluded her participation in the Dubai Grand Prix with a throw of 64.46 meters, good enough for fifth place in a competition dominated by Romanian Bianca Ghelber (72.18).

Turbulent farewell

Moreno had ended her athletic career in 2014, after winning at the Central American and Caribbean Games held in the Mexican city of Veracruz with a mark of 71.35 meters.

From then on she began to hold positions in the sports and political sphere (she was even a member of the Council of State) until in 2018 she was appointed national athletics commissioner.

She maintained that responsibility until mid-2022, when the official announcement was made of the "release from her duties" by "personal choice" amid controversial decisions and disagreements with athletes and coaches, so this step was interpreted as a removal.

Reference in her two homelands

Yipsi's change of nationality took effect before she competed in the Arab nation, so her result there should be considered officially as Albania's national record.

Deporcuba notes that that distinction belonged to Emiliana Ciko since 2002, thanks to a throw of 59.26 meters.

Currently Yipsi also holds Cuba's national record with a throw of 76.62 meters registered in 2008.

With her three most recent results Yipsi ranks 80th in the world ranking of the season, but at the same time the mark achieved in Cerveira qualifies as the best achieved this year by a Cuban athlete, active or not on the island, the media assures.

With the upcoming World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 on the horizon, and taking into account the newest circumstances, expectations are soaring about the scope of this new chapter for someone considered the best exponent in the history of her specialty in Cuba.