Cuban Athletes Prepare for 13th World Indoor Track and Field Championship

Eighteen Cuban athletes will participate in the traditional 2010 winter European tour to prepare for the 13th World Indoor Track and Field Championship to be held March 12-14 in Doha, Qatar.

Cuban triple jumper Yargelis Savigne, current world champion with a jump of 15.05 meters, will try to win her second consecutive title to match her two outdoor titles (Osaka 2007 and Berlin 2009).

110-meter hurdler Dayron Robles will use the opportunity to vanquish some recent indoor ghosts. In Moscow 2005, Robles was runner-up in the 60-meter hurdles, and then froze during the competition in Seville 2007.

Robles, the current Olympic champion and world record holder in the 110-meter-hurdles, will hit the track on February 3, in Düsseldorf, Germany, after a pause due to an injury suffered during the Berlin World Championship.

As a show of their continued dominance in hurdle competitions, Cuba is sending two other hurdlers to join Robles on this year’s indoor circuit, Anay Tejeda and Dayron Capetillo.

Other members of the Cuban delegation are sprinters Michel Herrera and David Lezcay (60 meters), and William Collazo, Cuba’s best runner in the 400 meters.

Triple jumper Mabel Gay, Berlin 2009 silver medallist, will try to continue her good performances this year, while triple jumpers Arnie David Giralt, Alexis Copello and Yoandri Betanzos, along with long jumper Wilfredo Martínez will all try to win tickets to the Doha Championship.

There will also be stiff competition to qualify for Doha among Cuban heptathlon athletes Leonel Suárez, Yordanis García and Yunior Díaz. Completing the Cuban delegation are shot putters Misleydis González, Mailín Vargas and Carlos Veliz.

The Cuban delegation is slated to compete at Karlsruhe, Gothenburg, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Stockholm, Valencia, Athens, Birmingham and Lievin. The meet in Lievin on March 5 will be the last event prior to Qatar World Indoor Championship.