Cuban athletes excel at Metz Indoor Meeting

Cubans Roger Valentin Iribarne and Juan Miguel Echevarria had amazing performances in the 2018 Metz Indoor Meeting.

Iribarne won the men´s 60 meters event with time of 7.59 seconds and was escorted by Hungarian Balazs Baji (7.61), 2017 world bronze medalist, and British David King (7.63).

Meanwhile, Echevarria, who is only 19, ranked second in the men´s long jump with record of 8.34 meters in an event won by South African Luvo Manyonga, Olympic runner-up and world monarch, who could only beat the Cuban boy in his last attempt with record of 8.40 meters.

Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou (7.95), junior world runner-up, finished third.

After this performance, Manyonga and Echevarria appear one and second, in that order, in the world ranking so far the season, while Iribarne ranks ninth in his event.

Two other Cubans will compete next Tuesday in the Barcelona Meeting, in Spain, and they are Yoandys Lescay, in the men´s 400 meters, and Yorgelis Rodriguez (women´s high jump).

The latter, who is a specialist in heptathlon, is debuting this season in the high jump event and finished second last Thursday at the Madrid Meeting with 1.85 meters, her indoor personal best.

Rodriguez, Cuba´s national record holder in heptathlon, will attend the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships to be held in Birmingham, UK, where she should compete in pentathlon and high jump events.