By Jose Alejandro Rodriguez Zas
Last May 14 we post a notice on our website in which we reported on the return to the national athletics team of Pinar del Rio pole vaulter Yarisley Silva, after a month before he asked for the withdrawal along with his coach Alexandre Nava.
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Precisely, on April 3, a Facebook post by sports journalist Raúl Rodríguez spoke about the subject, considering the fact as “regrettable” and that “they should never have said goodbye in that way to the sport that contributed so much for years.”
Although the real reason for the withdrawal request was never known (nor are the conditions of his return now very clear), Yarisley’s decision to withdraw from the national team was then related to possible disappointment at the attitude assumed by the authorities. of athletics in Cuba, before the participation of the Pinar del Río in the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, held between March 18 and 20, 2022.
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«Yarisley could not come directly from Spain, because the European Union establishes that with his visa he could not exceed three months of stay in the area, and he was already very close to that limit. He then had to go to Cuba and return for the World Cup », the Cuban national athletics commissioner, the former Camagüeyan hammer fighter Yipsy Moreno, opportunely explained.
«(The poles) were going to be sent directly from Spain, but the member of the federation in charge of transferring them tested positive (for the pandemic) and had to stay in Spain. The implements could not be sent and although efforts were made to send them through other channels, the problem could not be resolved, “added the official at the time.
Given all this situation, in which the visa was combined with the absence of his equipment, Yarisley finally decided not to appear at the aforementioned event, ruling out the option of “competing with the poles provided by the World Cup organizers, because he considered that it would affect his performance and the preparation he had done in recent months, “said Yipsy herself.
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Nevertheless, in an interview published on the Cubadebate website with the outstanding pole vaulter from Pinar del Río, 34 years old and located in 16th place in the world ranking of the discipline in this year 2022Yarisley denied the statements offered by Yispy at that time, which, as is common in Cuban sports, hid much of the truth about what happened and left public transparency aside.
After talking about her beginnings in the pole vault at the age of 13, her interest in being a dancer, her first results, her “discovery” by coach Navas, the woman from VueltaBajera spoke about the subject in question, without mincing words and leaving the situation clear.
«I had no visa problems, but I did have some inconveniences. I left Cuba on December 10 and returned on March 10, because the permanence visa in the European Union, which was 90 days, was about to expire. I could return to Spain on the 12th, but in Cuba it was decided that I would not go there that day, even though I had my poles and personal belongings there. So, I had to travel from Havana to Belgrade. I arrived in Belgrade at 12 o’clock at night on March 15 and my poles had not arrived. It was said that a solution would be found, I thought they would be taken from Spain, but it could not be like that ».
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“Why did I decide not to compete?because, even if they looked for me some poles as similar as possible, they were not going to be mine. It was the third time this happened to me.. It happened to me in a 2018 Diamond League, in Oslo. I jumped only 4.26 m with some that the Greek Katerina Stefanidi lent me. I was sixth. The fans and the press criticized me a lot. I also remember that I competed without my poles in a junior world championship in Beijing and in a competition in Turku, Finland. Both times I left blank»
“Since I already had those experiences, in Belgrade I made the decision not to participate. Also, my event is dangerous. In every takeoff I do, I risk my life. Sometimes I don’t talk about it, because we always decide to take the risk, but it’s good that it is explained at some point. Every pole vaulter has her own pole and trains with them, to master them. In my case, I have mine, with its measurements, weight, flexion… I change them at each height»
«So, if I am doing well in the season and I want to present myself in a World Cup, I cannot go to «invent», because at that level the athletes and the teams do everything possible to have their equipment ready, that should not fail. If I am finishing my career, at a time when I want to continue representing Cuba, it seems to me that by doing it that way, the image of my country and mine, the work done, would fall to the ground. It’s not that I couldn’t try, but I had already done it and it hadn’t worked out.”
«I was not going to risk myself in a World Cup. I could do it in another competition, but neither, because previous experiences had shown me otherwise. So, what for? Especially in an event like that, where all the athletes are prepared. I was not going to do a piece of paper»
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As she commented in the aforementioned interview, the pole vaulter recognizes that she is no longer the same as before, but her results still place her with possibilities in the international arena. With three podium finishes in her last five races before Worlds, she made it to the top 12 in the world rankings, solid above 4.60 – 4.65 meters.
“I felt fit for the Belgrade World Cup. In the last competition in France, he narrowly jumped 4.70 m. My coach and I said: “In the World Cup we did it.” But, well, it couldn’t be. Things that happen in life that one does not expect, “confessed Yarisley.
The truth is that, beyond the complex situation experienced, the best Cuban pole vaulter of all time is already back in training and ready to participate in future competitions.
“Twenty days ago I joined training at the Pan American Stadium in Havana. I have just started the technique, although all this time I have kept working on the physical part. I am preparing to participate in some stop of the Diamond League and in the month of July in the outdoor world championship in the United States. This week I will go to a training base in Castellón, Spain. In June I will have the competitions. It would start in Rome, Italy. And I would be at three rallies before the World Cup. Until now I am classified, by points”, expressed the outstanding athlete from Pinar del Río.
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Before the end of the interview, Yarisley spoke about the end of his sports career, which is inevitably approaching, but he still has plans in mind.
“What I have always wanted is to finish big. I would not want to leave athletics, sports, below my results. As for multiple events, I have thought about participating in the Central American and Caribbean Games. I would like the people to remember me with love, like that Yarisley faithful to her country, who always represented Cuba well on high. I long to leave a pretty picture. I’m going to fight for it.”