Yunior Díaz Zayas (born 28 April 1987 in Sancti Spíritus) is a Cuban track and field athlete who specialises in the decathlon and long jump.[1] He represented Cuba at the 2008 Summer Olympics and also at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. He won the silver medal at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics.
 Yunior Díaz at the 2011 TNT – Fortuna Meeting decathlon in Kladno | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Yunior Díaz Zayas | ||||||||||||||
| Born | April 28, 1987 Sancti Spíritus | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 78 kg (172 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country |  Cuba | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
| Updated on 25 December 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Career
editHis first success as a junior athlete came at the 2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships where he won the silver medal.[2][3] Díaz emerged as one of a talented trio of Cuban male decathletes along with Leonel Suárez and Yordanis García. Cuban combined events coach Gabino Arzola stated in 2005 that it was his intent to see three Cubans compete in the decathlon at the 2012 Olympic Games.[4]
He set a decathlon personal best of 8057 in his home town of Havana in March 2008, breaking the 8000-point barrier for the first time.[5] Díaz's first appearance on the global stage came soon after at 2008 Summer Olympics, but he did not compete in his specialist event but rather as part of Cuba's 4×400 metres relay team with Yunier Pérez, William Collazo and Omar Cisneros. The team failed to progress beyond the heats stage of the competition.[6] He won his first senior medal the following year in Havana at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, finishing as runner-up behind compatriot Leonel Suárez but managing to score over 8000 points for the second time in his career with a final total of 8013.[7]
Díaz was selected to represent Cuba in the decathlon at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics along with Suárez and García. He was in second place after five events (having scored 4512 points) and although he had slipped to ninth place by the end of the competition, he managed to significantly improve his personal best to 8357 points.[8] This score gave him eleventh place on the season's decathlon rankings.[9]
Personal bests
edit| Event | Result | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outdoor | |||
| 100 m | 10.66 s (wind: +0.2 m/s) |  Berlin |
19 Aug 2009 |
| Long jump | 8.02 m (wind: +0.3 m/s) | La Habana |
22 Feb 2007 |
| Shot put | 15.56 m | La Habana |
2 Mar 2012 |
| High jump | 2.05 m | La Habana |
7 Mar 2008 |
| 400 m | 46.15 s | Berlin |
19 Aug 2009 |
| 110 m hurdles | 14.49 s (wind: -0.8 m/s) | La Habana |
4 Jul 2009 |
| Discus throw | 45.50 m | Ratingen |
15 Jun 2012 |
| Pole vault | 4.60 m | Berlin |
20 Aug 2009 |
| Javelin throw | 62.14 m | La Habana |
6 May 2011 |
| 1500 m | 4:30.16 min |  Ponce |
27 May 2007 |
| Decathlon | 8357 pts | Berlin |
19/20 Aug 2009 |
| Indoor | |||
| 60 m | 6.91 s |  Sumy |
17 Feb 2010 |
| Long jump | 7.62 m |  Tallinn |
12 Feb 2010 |
| Shot put | 15.11 m | Sumy |
17 Feb 2010 |
| High jump | 1.99 m | Sumy |
17 Feb 2010 |
| 60 m hurdles | 8.19 s | Sumy |
17 Feb 2010 |
| Pole vault | 4.25 m | Tallinn |
8 Feb 2009 |
| 1000 m | 2:41.25 min | Tallinn |
13 Feb 2010 |
| Heptathlon | 5831 pts | Sumy |
17/18 Feb 2010 |
Competition record
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Pan American Junior Championships | Windsor, Ontario, Canada | 2nd | Decathlon | 7290 pts |
| 2007 | NACAC Combined Events Championships | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | 3rd | Decathlon | 7816 pts |
| 2008 | Summer Olympics | Beijing, China | 7th (heats) | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:02.24 |
| 2009 | Americas Combined Events Cup | La Habana, Cuba | 2nd | Decathlon | 7920 pts |
| CAC Championships | La Habana, Cuba | 2nd | Decathlon | 8013 pts | |
| World Championships | Berlin, Germany | 9th | Decathlon | 8357 pts | |
| 2011 | ALBA Games | Barquisimeto, Venezuela | 1st | Decathlon | 7800 pts |
| Pan American Games | Guadalajara, México | 19th (q) | Long jump | 7.21 m A (wind: -0.2 m/s) | |
| 1st (h) | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:04.33 min A | |||
| 2014 | Pan American Sports Festival | Ciudad de México, México | 3rd | Long jump | 7.83 m A (wind: 1.3 m/s) |
| Central American and Caribbean Games | Xalapa, México | 3rd | Long jump | 7.66 m A (wind: -0.9 m/s) | |
| 2015 | Pan American Games | Toronto, Canada | 6th | Long jump | 7.90 m (w) |
References
edit- ^ XXIX JUEGOS OLIMPICOS BEIJING 2008 - Delegación Cubana (PDF) (in Spanish), Instituto Nacional de Deportes Educación Física y Recreación (INDER), p. 57, archived from the original (PDF) on January 1, 2016, retrieved June 24, 2013
- ^ Clavelo Robinson, Javier (2006-03-02). Menéndez throws 65.02m in Santiago de Cuba. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-05-21.
- ^ Pan American Junior Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-05-21.
- ^ Yordanis Garcia - Beijing in his sights after World Youth Best. IAAF (2005-07-15). Retrieved on 2010-05-21.
- ^ Decatlón criollo alcanza mayoría de edad[permanent dead link] (in Spanish). Cuba Vision International. Retrieved on 2010-05-21.
- ^ Yunior Díaz. Sports-reference. Retrieved on 2010-05-21.
- ^ Clavelo Robinson, Javier (2009-07-05). Suarez tallies World leading 8654 points in Decathlon - CAC Champs Day 2. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-05-21.
- ^ Julin, A. Lennart & Jalava, Mirko (2009-12-21). 2009 - End of Year Reviews – COMBINED EVENTS. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-05-21.
- ^ Decathlon 2009. IAAF (2010-02-24). Retrieved on 2010-05-21.
