Cuban athletes set to write a new chapter

Four Cuban athletes will mark a milestone when they compete in the first World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest from September 11 to 13, according to the sport’s global governing body.

The women’s triple jump will provide most of Cuba’s representatives. Leyanis Pérez, Liadagmis Povea and Davisleydi Velazco, recently restored to the national team, will all take part. No country can boast three athletes of such quality in the event, Granma said.

Velazco holds the season’s second-best mark at 15.13 meters, while Leyanis jumped 15.06 in July. They will face Olympic champion Thea Lafond of Dominica, who owns the year’s best leap at 15.25 meters, and Senegal’s Saly Sarr, who won the Diamond League competition the previous weekend. Italy’s Dariya Derkach, Jamaica’s Ackelia Smith and Brazil’s Gabriele Santos are also listed among the leading contenders.

Roxana Gómez will represent Cuba in the 400 meters. With 16 runners entered, organizers are expected to hold qualifying heats. The field includes Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, Aaliyah Butler of the United States, Norway’s Henriette Jaeger, Bahrain’s Salwa Naser, Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce and Stacey Ann Williams, the Czech Republic’s Lurdes Manuel, Poland’s Natalia Bukowiecka and the Netherlands’ Lieke Klaver. Seven have faster season times than Gómez’s personal best of 49.48 seconds, while another has matched it. The Cuban will therefore need to approach the best performance of her career, achieved at the Tokyo World Championships in September 2025, to reach the final.

Long jumper Jorge Hodelín had also been expected to compete, but physical discomfort that prevented him from challenging in the Diamond League ruled him out. The Budapest meeting will bring together recent Olympic champions, winners of the latest outdoor world championships and champions from the 2026 Diamond League, along with the leading athletes of the current season. A total of 381 competitors from 65 federations are entered across 28 events.