Yargelis Savigne

Yargelis Savigne is the latest in a long a line of great Cuban jumpers to make their name on the world stage. Savigne, born in Guantánamo, took up athletics originally as a sprinter but soon found her place in the long and triple jump. Her good marks at the National School Games in 2000 earned her a chance to train at the ESPA Sports School. A year later, she won the long jump at the national junior championships.

The next year, Savigne won the long jump at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships, but a knee injury sidelined her from competing in the IAAF World Junior Championships later that summer. Having recovered from her injury, Savigne twice broke the Cuban junior long jump record in 2003, and later that summer, took home the bronze medal at the Pan-Am Games.

While she had shown significant improvement in 2003, it was until 2005 that Savigne truly made a name for herself. Having joined the Cuban track team on the European circuit, Savigne found a shortage of quality long jump competitions at which point her coach encouraged her to try the triple jump. She progressed rapidly and earned herself spots in both jumps at the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki. While she finished just one spot outside of the medals in the long jump, Savigne was the surprise silver medalist, with a then-personal best of 14.82m.

Following her break out year, Savinge jumped well in 2006 but it was 2007 where she made her name as the world number one. That summer, Savigne broke the 15m barrier for the first time in her career, and then three weeks later, won the Pan-Am Games triple jump title. Savigne, however, was working to make sure that she jumped best when it counted most. On her first jump in the final of the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Savinge smashed her personal best with a hop, step and jump of 15.28m. No one else came within 20cm of her massive leap, and Savigne left Osaka as the new world champion.

Proving that her perfectly timed jump in Osaka had not been just luck, Savigne went began 2008 with a series of wins during the indoor season, culminating with gold medal and national record at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain. Having backed up her world outdoor title with the indoor gold, there is nothing more that she would like to do than to confirm her place atop with the world of triple jumping with a gold medal this summer in Beijing.