Leyanis’ Moment

I don’t like to put pressure on anyone, but an elite athlete has to learn to live with it, because inevitably it will come—from loved ones, from anonymous fans, and from those who prepare them and follow their progress.

We are on the eve of the World Athletics Championships, which will begin in a few days in Tokyo, and for Cuba most of the spotlight is on triple jumper Leyanis Pérez, the current world leader in the event this season.

After a complicated campaign in which she fell short of expectations at the main event, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Leyanis appears to have turned the page, and everything now seems to be going her way.

She started 2025 at full speed, capturing the title at the World Indoor Championships held in Nanjing, China, with a remarkable leap of 14.93 meters—bringing her once again to the doorstep of the 15-meter mark, her most persistent goal.

In the other major lead-up competition, the Diamond League, she also came out on top, with a 14.91 effort in the final held in Zurich, Switzerland. Now she has before her the chance to make history at the most widely followed global athletics event, surpassed only by soccer.

Quietly, as usual, her compatriot Liadagmis Povea has been right behind her. Povea earned silver medals in both Nanjing (14.57) and Zurich (14.72), and currently ranks second worldwide with the 14.84 she posted in February.

Nevertheless, the World Championships are something else entirely, and “that’s where the boys are separated from the men,” as the saying goes. Unfortunately, in this century the vast majority of Cuban athletes have not been able to achieve their best marks at the sport’s main tournament, and that will be the challenge for the two triple jumpers.

Elite rivals abound, and among the top contenders are Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts, the United States’ Jasmine Moore, and Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas.

The Jamaican captured gold in the first two Diamond League stops this year, although without surpassing 14.64, which places her fourth in the world rankings—just behind the American, who quietly moved ahead with 14.68. Perhaps competing in the long jump as well could be a complication for Moore, but with her pair of bronzes in Paris she proved she belongs among the elite in both disciplines.

Under normal circumstances, mentioning Yulimar meant accepting that everyone else was fighting for silver and bronze. But the current world record holder has not fully recovered from the Achilles tendon injury she suffered in the lead-up to Paris 2024, and it remains to be seen how she performs on the track in Tokyo.

Even so, even if she is not at “one hundred percent,” Rojas will draw much of the attention—and that could in some way help the Cuban athletes ease the weight of expectations.

Dominica’s Thea Lafond, Olympic champion in Paris, has also struggled recently and currently sits sixth in the rankings with a modest 14.62, but when the stakes are highest is when it truly counts.

Cuba will field a much broader delegation, but without a doubt the spotlight will shine brightest on Leyanis, urged to improve on the bronze she claimed at the previous edition.