Javier Sotomayor

Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (Limonar, Matanzas, Cuba, October 13, 1967) is a former Cuban athlete, considered the best high jumper in history. He won an Olympic title, two championships world championships, four indoors and three Pan American titles, among others. His first record was obtained at the age of sixteen. He has held the world record since 1993 with a jump of 2.45 m that he remains unbeaten.

In 1993, he received the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, but in the twilight of his career he was suspended twice due to involvement with prohibited substances.

Trajectory

Early Years

Javier Sotomayor took his first steps in athletics when he was very young. At the age of ten he was already practicing the high jump, despite the fact that he was very fearful of the test and preferred speed races. At thirteen, when his coach was Carmelo Benítez, he achieved a mark of 1.65 m, and at fourteen, it is said that he exceeded two meters. For these merits, the young promise obtained a scholarship to study at the Escuela Superior de Perfeccionamiento Atlético (ESPA), where he began to be trained by José Godoy. Although sometimes his spirits fell, it was his grandfather who motivated him to fulfill his tasks.

In 1984, at the age of sixteen, he set the still-standing junior world record of 2.33m in Havana. In fact, he holds the three best marks in that category, the others being 2.31 m (Havana) and 2.30 m (London), all conquered in the same year. In 1986 he attended the first world junior championship., which took place in Athens, Greece, and won first place with a jump of 2.25 m. A year earlier, he had attended a senior category competition at the World Indoor Games in which he placed in second place with a result of 2.30 m.

In 1987, he made his debut in two important events: at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis, where he obtained first place and a record of 2.32 m and at the world championships in Rome, in which he placed ninth with 2.29 m mark.

World Records

In 1988, Sotomayor joined the elite of athletics when he was twenty years old. At the Diputación de Salamanca Grand Prix, Spain, on September 8, he surpassed by one centimeter the world record of 2.42 m held by the Swede Patrik Sjöberg. In this way, he became the fifth record holder in the history of Cuban athletics, for which feat he was recognized as the best male world athlete by the Spanish Association of Sports Press.

It should be added that that year he was prevented from attending the Olympic Games in Seoul, due to the boycott in which Cuba participated along with other countries in support of North Korea. Some time later he would assert that, far from feeling frustrated, it was a decision that Cuban athletes understood "perfectly."

The good results continued in 1989 when he set new world records, both indoors and outdoors. In the first of them, he reached 2.43 m at the World Indoor Championships in Budapest (Hungary) and at the Central American and Caribbean Athletics Championships in San Juan (Puerto Rico) he surpassed his own absolute record with a jump of 2.44 m on July 29.

However, in 1990 a foot injury kept him from competing. In addition, her coach José Godoy passed away at the beginning of the year, which represented a strong emotional blow for Sotomayor. Despite everything, and under the direction of her new coach Guillermo de la Torre, she returned with the conquest of the gold medal in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Mexico City. Then, in 1991 he made his second appearance in a world championship, which took place in Tokyo (Japan) and placed second with 2.36 m, being surpassed by the American Charles Austin with 2.38 m. Likewise, in March of that year he shared third place with the Soviet Alexei Yemelin (2.31 m) in the world indoor championship in Seville; and in August he secured his second consecutive victory in the Pan American Games with a mark of 2.35 m, which took place in his country.

Peak of his career

In 1992, Sotomayor attended the Olympic Games for the first time. The event took place in Barcelona, and he was part of a group of renowned Cuban athletes who have achieved the greatest number of Olympic victories for the Caribbean country in history. Among them were Ana Fidelia Quirot, Félix Savón, Orlando Hernández, and Orestes Kindelan. "Soto" contributed his gold medal and first Olympic triumph when he won with the decisive mark of 2.34 m, which he surpassed in the first attempt; unlike Patrik Sjöberg, Tim Forsyth, Artur Partyka, and Hollis Conway, competitors who outperformed her in the second trial, according to him, this competition was the one that caused him the most nervousness and anxiety in his entire career.

New successes came in 1993, when he won the world indoor championship in Toronto (Canada) with a mark of 2.41 m, thus regaining the title lost two years earlier. Months later, and prior to the world event in Stuttgart (Germany), Sotomayor participated in the annual meeting in Salamanca on July 27.

At that time, there were those who considered that the mark achieved by the Cuban in Barcelona a year before had been mediocre. It was also said that the test was going through a moment of crisis, and it was also conjectured about the negative effects of anti-doping controls on the athletes. In this context, Sotomayor was once again at the top of the test in Salamanca, where there were achieved his first record. That day he made three successful jumps of 2.23m; 2.32 m and 2.38 m, in a single attempt. Ultimately he called for the 2.45m mark which beat his own world mark by one centimetre. Without wind and with high temperatures, the first jump failed. But the goal was clear and he tried again. The newspaper El País recounts that moment:

Standing a few metres from the rod, he mentally reviewed his leap: the race and the takeoff. When he checked the film in the head, he sighed, opened his eyes and threw himself with a measured and powerful career. It was the great Sotomayor. He had the strength and agility of the boy who began to amaze his rivals when he was barely 18 years old. The race and the smoothie were tremendous. Sotomayor rose oblique to the rod, doubled his back and touched the ribbon with the back. The legs passed after an extraordinary stroke of kidneys. Although the rod staggered, the Cuban jumper was sure it would not fall. He went out like a hurricane from the mattress and hugged Guillermo de la Torre. He just beat the record and regain all the power of his best days...

In August, he confirmed his good form in Stuttgart with the second world title of his career with a jump of 2.40 m. In this way, the Caribbean had achieved the greatest achievements for any athlete in two years: the Olympic and world championships, and the record of the test. These results did not go unnoticed by the Prince of Asturias Foundation, which awarded him the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in November. Herminio Menéndez, chief of staff of the Higher Sports Council, commented on Sotomayor: “he is a great reference for Cuban youth. In addition to being a champion, he is a simple, affable person who remains in his country despite the fact that he could enjoy all the comforts in the United States." In the profile of his career, the institution expresses itself about the winner in these terms:

...to his worth as a sportsman he unites some always highlighted personal values — simplicity, sympathy, accessibility to all and fellowship — that have led him to become a real myth for the current youth of his country. About Cuba, he has declared that there the athletes are privileged [...] I'll never leave Cuba so I won't come back. I love my homeland too much and, moreover, I am committed to taking it out.

Sotomayor returned to the world indoor championships in 1995, jumping 2.37m and winning the gold medal for the third time. She also attended the Pan American Games for the third time that were held in Mar del Plata (Argentina) and again won the gold medal with a jump of 2.40 m, the current competition mark. Meanwhile, in the world championships in Gothenburg (Sweden) he placed second with 2.37 m. Until that year he had jumped over 2.30m in 192 competitions and since 1988, seventeen of those had been over 2.40m.

Second participation in the Olympic Games and other international victories

By 1996, the years of work began to take a toll on Sotomayor's physique. In what was his second attendance at the Olympic Games, on that occasion held in Atlanta (United States), he presented himself suffering from an injury to his left leg, which served him for the upward impulse. He barely reached 2.25 m in the final round, won by American Charles Austin who jumped 2.39 m.

Sotomayor's fifth appearance in world championships occurred in 1997. Doubts about his performance weighed on the Cuban. However, he had shown good shape before the event, and even dared to give a forecast: that the winner would be the one who jumped 2.37 m. In fact, he himself achieved that mark and therefore the gold medal with a precise jump on his second attempt, which could not be surpassed by Artur Partyka or Tim Forsyth, who finished with 2.35 m. In 1998 his highest results Relevant were a first place in the Grand Prix Final of Moscow with 2.31 m and a second place in the Athletics World Cup in Johannesburg with a record of 2.28 m.

After being absent from the world indoor championships in 1997, he returned in 1999 at the Maebashi (Japan) edition. On that occasion, he executed four jumps without fail in the final round, being the 2.36 m the one that gave him the fourth indoor victory in his personal record. Sotomayor declared after the victory that to face the contest he had felt in good shape and very strong, if a bit tired.

Doping accusations

For the month of July 1999, he appeared for the fourth time at the Pan American Games, which were held in Winnipeg (Canada). With a record of 2.30 m, she also won the fourth consecutive gold medal in the continental competition. However, days later the president of PASO, Mario Vázquez Raña, made the official announcement that the anti-doping test carried out on the Cuban athlete had been positive, since the amount of 200 nanograms of cocaine had been found in his urine. The announcement took the sports world by surprise and shocked the Cuban delegation and the country itself. For their part, the authorities announced the withdrawal of the medal won in Winnipeg and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) imposed a two-year suspension on him.

In his defense, the doctor of the Cuban delegation, Mario Granda, even said that everything was a "manipulation" and asserted that the athlete had taken coca tea for stomach pain. Sotomayor himself argued that it was all a "scoundrel" and claimed that he did not need anything to jump 2.30 m in Winnipeg, a mark that he had exceeded more than 300 times in his career. He even highlighted the various anti-doping tests he had been subjected to since he rose to fame in the world of athletics, and revealed his attendance at a psychologist to deal with the problem. Despite everything, he also highlighted the signs of support from his countrymen and the Cuban government itself.

Due to the sanction, his retirement from athletics was speculated. However, the IAAF decided to shorten the punishment to one year. The members of the board of directors, including Alberto Juantorena, decided to give him an "opportunity for rehabilitation" based on his "exceptional career." Likewise, the more than 300 anti-doping controls that Sotomayor had passed through, all with negative results, were highlighted. It was also taken into account to grant him the possibility of attending the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 to close his remarkable career. For their part, the sports authorities in Cuba, such as the president of the Sports Institute, were happy but not satisfied, since doubts about Sotomayor's innocence still weighed. The president of the Cuban Olympic Committee also insisted on the "laboratory manipulation" although he accepted not knowing who or how he had colluded.

Retirement and new doping accusations

With little preparation and thirty-three years behind him, he was present at the Sydney Olympic Games. He reached the final in which he won the silver medal in the middle of rainy weather, a situation that made him the worst in competition, according to his own words. His mark was 2.32 m while the victory went to him Russia's Sergey Klyugin managed with 2.35 m and third place went to Algeria's Hammad Abderahmane, who also jumped 2.32 m in an attempt like Sotomayor, but had failed twice to clear 2.29 m. The contest ended he stated that they had been his last Games.

In early 2001, she made her seventh attendance at the World Indoor Championships, which took place in Lisbon (Portugal) and placed fifth with a record of 2.25 m. On that occasion the winner was the Swedish Stefan Holm who scored 2.32 m That year he also decided to take part in his sixth world championship, which took place in Edmonton (Canada).

In Edmonton, he qualified for the final with a jump of 2.27 m in the preliminary round, while suffering from indigestion. He considered the mark that would decide the champion to be 2.35 m a target which he considered difficult to achieve but not impossible. In the end he finished with a record of 2.33m which had also been achieved by the Russians Yaroslav Rybakov and Vyacheslav Voronin below the winner Martin Buss of Germany (2.36m), but the tie-break criteria placed him in fourth place. After the result, he expressed that in the future he would only compete in two or three tournaments in Europe, and later he could dedicate himself to being a coach in the federation of his country.

However, he announced his retirement from athletics in October, precisely on his birthday and when the presentation of the Cuban baseball team that would participate in the world championship in Taiwan was taking place. In the conference he established the constant injuries to his tendons as the cause of the decision.

Shortly thereafter the doping accusations surfaced again. In November of that same year, it was announced that the test carried out after his participation in the International Athletics Meeting in Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain) in July, had yielded positive results for nandrolone. The news gave way to criticism for the late announcement and the reduction of Sotomayor's sanction that occurred in 1999. The version even circulated that the Cuban federation had accepted doping, something that was flatly denied by the athlete.

Javier Sotomayor in July 2015.

Sotomayor once again defended his innocence and highlighted the eighteen controls he had been subjected to that year, some by surprise and one carried out when he was on vacation on the beach in Varadero. Everything seemed, according to him, a "campaign" against him. Be that as it may, the IAAF confirmed the result of the examination in January 2002. The resolution implied a lifetime suspension, but it was no longer effective due to the athlete's withdrawal, although his participation in the Edmonton championship was unknown.

After the retreat

After finishing his career in athletics, he obtained a degree in physical and sports culture, which has allowed him to train athletes from his country. In addition, he has held the positions of president of the Subcommittee for Attention to Athletes and that of a member of the committee of the Cuban Athletics Federation.

In 2007 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Central American and Caribbean Athletics Confederation and in 2011 he was recognized with the “Sport Inspiration for Youth” award by the International Olympic Committee. Likewise, he was invited to the temporary exhibition on the occasion of the centenary of the IAAF that took place in Barcelona, in which the shirt he wore when he set the world record of 2.45 m was shown.

Private life

Javier Sotomayor's parents are Gabriel Sotomayor and Aurora Sanabria. He is married to Amaya González and they have four sons.

Since 2015, he also has Spanish nationality, signed at the Spanish embassy in Havana.

Progression of personal bests

Graphic with the best jumps in history. Sotomayor's in red.

Year	Brand brand	Place	Date
2001	2,30 m	Rétino	1 July
2000	2.32 m	Sydney	24 September
1999	2,34 m	Saint-Denis	3 July
1998	2,37 m	Maracaibo	20 August
1997	2,37 m	Athens	6 August
1996	2.33 m	Atlanta	18 May
1995	2.40 m	Mar del Plata	25 March
1994	2.42 m	Sevilla	5 June
1993	2.45 m	Salamanca	27 July
1992	2,36 m	Zurich	19 August
1992	2,36 m	Eberstadt	4 July
1991	2.40 m	Saint-Denis	19 July
1990	2,36 m	Jerez de la Frontera	3 September
1989	2.44 m	San Juan	29 July
1988	2.43 m	Salamanca	8 September
1987	2,37 m	Athens	20 June
1986	2,36 m	Santiago de Cuba	23 February
1985	2,34 m	Havana	20 March
1984	2.33 m	Havana	19 May
1983	2,17 m	Havana	24 July

Year	Brand brand (covered track)	Place	Date
2001	2.31 m	The Piraeus	21 February
1999	2,36 m	Maebashi	7 March
1996	2.38 m	Liévin	18 February
1995	2.38 m	Barcelona	12 March
1995	2.38 m	Liévin	19 February
1994	2.40 m	Birmingham	26 February
1994	2.40 m	Wuppertal	4 February
1993	2.41 m	Toronto	14 March
1989	2.43 m	Budapest	4 March

Honours of Prizes

• Summer Olympic Games
  • Gold Medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
  • Silver Medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000.
• World Championship of Athletics
  • Gold Medal at the 1993 Stuttgart World Championship of Athletics.
  • Gold Medal at the 1997 World Athletic Championship in Athens.
  • Silver Medal at the World Athletic Championships of 1991 Tokyo.
  • Silver Medal at the World Athletic Championship of 1995 in Gothenburg.
• World Championship of Athletics in Pista Cubierta
  • Gold Medal at the 1999 Maebashi World Championship of Athletics.
  • Gold Medal at the World Championship of Athletics in Pista Cubierta of 1995 in Barcelona.
  • Gold Medal at the World Championship of Athletics in Toronto's 1993 Pista Cover.
  • Gold Medal at the World Championship of Athletics in Budapest's 1989 Pista Cubierta.
  • Bronze medal at the World Championship of Athletics in Pista Cubierta of 1991 in Seville.
  • Silver Medal at the 1985 Paris World Games in Pista Cubierta.
• World Cup of Athletics
  • Gold Medal at the 1994 World Cup of Athletics in London.
  • Silver Medal at the 1998 World Cup of Athletics in Johannesburg.
  • Silver medal at the 1992 World Cup of Athletics in Havana.
  • Bronze Medal at the 1989 World Cup of Athletics in Barcelona.
  • Bronze Medal at the 1985 World Cup of Athletics in Canberra.
• Universia
  • Gold Medal at the University of 1989 in Duisburg.
• Pan American Games
  • Gold Medal at the 1995 Pan American Games of Mar del Plata.
  • Gold Medal at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana.
  • Gold Medal at the 1987 Pan American Indianapolis Games.
• Central American and Caribbean Games
  • Gold Medal at the XVIII Central American and Caribbean Games of Maracaibo.
  • Gold Medal in the XVII Central American and Caribbean Games of Ponce.
  • Gold Medal at the XVI Central American and Caribbean Games of Mexico City.
• Central American and Caribbean Athletic Championship
  • Gold medal at the 1989 San Juan Central American and Caribbean Athletic Championship.

• Global Plusmarks
  • World range with 2.43 m on 8 September 1988 in Salamanca, Spain and 4 March 1989 in Budapest, Hungary
  • Global range with 2.44 m in 1989 in San Juan (Puerto Rico)
  • World range with 2.45 m on 27 July 1993 in Salamanca, Spain