The Golden Revenge of Leyanis Pérez

Cuban triple jumper Leyanis Pérez soared once again today, receiving the award for Best Female Athlete of Latin America in the 61st Prensa Latina Sports Poll.

The Vedado Room of the Hotel Nacional breathed history. The lamps seemed suspended like ancient judges, and the murmur took the shape of anticipation. Then she appeared: dressed in red, tall like an omen, beautiful without effort, and she advanced with the serenity of one who has already learned to conquer the inner silence. She had no rival in the voting, just as she had no rival in the jumping pit throughout 2025. She swept the competition.

Beside her was her coach, the invisible support of every flight; Liván Moinelo, winner of the male award and symbol of Cuban baseball in Japan; Javier Sotomayor, the living eternity of the world high jump; and Enrique Figuerola, foundational memory of this poll.

But she was the center. Everything converged on her figure, as if the entire hall had been designed to tell her story of stumbles and ascent to the pinnacle of sport.

Because Leyanis's story does not begin in glory, but in injury. Paris 2024 was a sudden blow, a "very strong" psychological low, as she herself confessed. Against all odds, she missed the Olympic podium, and there, when many would break, she spoke to herself: "You can do it. This happens to any athlete." And she decided the pain would not be a full stop.

"Since January 1st, 2025, I set out for it to be a very significant year for me," she told Prensa Latina in an exclusive interview, her voice firm but laced with emotion.

It was not a promise thrown to the wind: it was an oath fulfilled. Indoor world champion, outdoor world champion, queen of the Diamond League. The best year of her career; a year "strong," as she feels it "in her heart," in which she achieved the goals that drove her to keep fighting.

Tokyo appears in her narrative as a key scene. "That outdoor world championship was something I went looking for," she recalled. She knew the challenge would be enormous, the competition very tight, but in that risk she found fuel. "Nothing is going to stop me," she told herself. And nothing stopped her.

The award, she confessed, made her fully aware of what she had experienced. "Until today, I hadn't truly believed what I had achieved." Now she does. The recognition gave her back the complete image of her own jump: that of an athlete who fell and rebuilt herself stronger.

And there is no pause on her horizon. "Leyanis is not going to stop," she stated without needing to raise her voice. She wants to improve her personal best, keep winning medals, keep accumulating world titles.

France awaits her in February; then Poland, with the challenge of defending her indoor crown, even after overcoming a virus that forced her to slow down when her body asked for haste. Everything—she insists—is a process, a step, conditioning for what is to come.

When the ceremony ended and the applause closed like a collective embrace, what remained was not just the image of an award-winning athlete. What remained was the certainty of a woman who fell, rebuilt herself, and returned taller. Leyanis Pérez received an award and confirmed a truth: there are defeats that do not take away your height, but rather teach you from where to jump again.