The Cuban Olympic athletics champion Yipsi Morenoretired since 2014, returned to competition with two victories in Albaniawhere he emigrated months ago.
The former commissioner of that sport in Cuba dominated the hammer throw events —her specialty and in which she was Olympic champion in Beijing 2008—, and discus, in what was her debut with the Tirane team, in the 2024 Albania Cup.
The sports environment DeporCuba reported this Wednesday that the return of the 43-year-old Cuban to the throwing area occurred on May 18 at the rally held at the Elbasan Arena, where Moreno took the hammer to 63.94 meters, a record that gave him the victory. Her other valid throw was 61.55 m.
Besides, The Olympic hammer throw monarch sent the discus up to 29.50 m. Their two wins contributed to Tirane taking the team victory in the women’s sector.
As demonstrated by the discreet records of the competition in general – for example the men’s long jump was won with 7.30m – the Albanian Cup does not have a high level. However, this team tournament is the second most important in the country.
The triple world champion, who retired in 2014 after winning the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, was far from her personal best of 76.62 meters, which is the Cuban record. in the women’s hammer throw, and the records that took her to the podium in several competitions.
However, with the result obtained in Albania, after a decade without competing, he would have been a medalist in the 2024 Barrientos Memorial on the Island. In the discus throw he was much further away from a relevant record, although it was enough for him to obtain the victory .
Yipsi Moreno was dismissed in 2022, less than a week after, for the first time, the Cuban delegation said goodbye without medals —and with four escapes, among them that of the disco ball Yaimé Pérez— of the Eugene Athletics World CupUSA.
Since Moreno, also a former deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power, took the reins of athletics in Cuba, the decline of that sport has only worsened. This is mainly due to the flight of important figures, a phenomenon that affects Cuban sports in general.
After his dismissal, he claimed to have found out on television, Moreno defended himself against criticism and said that the problems of discipline and sport in general in Cuba were not his responsibility.. She also defended herself against accusations of being a despot.
Several athletes, such as triple jumper Cristian Nápoles, assured that the triple monarch of the world wanted them to compete injured.
Yipsi Moreno’s departure from Cuba and his return to competitions in another countrythey add her to the extensive list of retired and active athletes on the Island who choose to emigrate.
