The best short hurdlers in national athletics passed through his hands, including two Olympic champions (Anier García and Dayron Robles) and a universal record holder (Robles himself).
In 2010, when he was still working with the Cuban team, the now-defunct IAAF distinguished him as the best coach in the world.
His legend went and goes from mouth to mouth in the speed groups with obstacles, to the point that an athlete of the caliber of the Englishman Andrew Pozzi moved to Italy to put himself under his command.
That said, it might seem that Santiago Antúnez Contreras would have the fumes of fame on his mind, and that perhaps he would put off the possibility of an interview. But not. It was enough for his son of the same name to send him a WhatsApp message for the 73-year-old from Villarreal to give me an unforgettable compliment.
“My son told me about his interest,” Santiago wrote, “and it is an honor for me to be at his disposal because I consider him one of my favorites in sports journalism.”
“Thank you so much,” I replied with an inflamed ego. “I will send you a questionnaire right away.”
A couple of days later, after apologizing “because he was very busy with some conferences,” Eugenio George de las vallas gave me (us) this interview.
In 2013 it seemed that his definitive retirement from the slopes would occur. However, eight years later he continues working. Can that be interpreted as he was discouraged from working in Cuba?
-I was very discouraged and deeply uncomfortable by the decisions that were made in sport and athletics in particular, decisions that affected our work with a view to the Beijing Olympic Games, which subsequently worsened and represented a lot of pressure for an athlete like Dayron.
Can you give me an example?
-In 2010, INDER delivered a stimulus package that included two cars for athletics, which were given to good coaches who deserved a reward for their results. But it turns out that that year I was selected as the best coach in the world and they didn't give me any explanation. Then I thought it was time to leave and I applied for retirement, but I had to postpone it because I had a commitment to Dayron for the London Olympics.
Have you considered – even for a moment – the possibility of returning to Cuba as coach of the national team?
-No. At my age I'm not going to be of much use and the hurdles specialty is well served with the stellar Anier García. You just have to give him time to develop his work, because a hurdler is not built in two or three years.
Have you ever received job offers from American brokers?
-I have never received any proposal to work with the American team.
How good do you think Andrew Pozzi is? Do you see him capable of breaking 13 seconds or being a medalist in Tokyo?
-Pozzi is a magnificent athlete with as much potential as Anier and Dayron. The technical problems have been greatly improved and can now be used at full speed. He has made a lot of progress since last year and in 2021 he was second in the European indoor championship with his best time, 7.43 seconds. He is a strong medal candidate at the Tokyo Olympics.
List the specific differences that exist between preparing European and Cuban hurdlers.
-It has been very difficult for me to adapt my training system from the Cuban hurdles school abroad. I have had to go slowly so that the athletes understand the philosophy of the Cuban system, which with the national athletes 'walked alone' since there was a correspondence between the work of the base and that of the national teams. But Cubans also have more developed coordination abilities, a greater sense of rhythm (with exercises developed by music), more jumping power, they train with great will, they never give up anything for lost and their trust in the coach is absolute.
What are the three fundamental virtues that made you a top hurdler trainer?
-One, I like sport and love it like family. Two, respect and listen to all other coaches, young or experienced, even from other sports. And three, be a constant student of what I do and of each of my athletes.
Have you never been interested in the 400 hurdles?
-When I worked at the National ESPA I trained 100, 110 and 400 hurdles and I had a youth world champion in that last event, Emilio Valle. But with high-level athletes it is very difficult to be able to dedicate themselves to two modalities of such a high level of demand.
Of all the athletes you have trained, who has been the best in indicators such as start, technique, speed, self-confidence and dedication?
-It is difficult to define the best in each of these indicators, since each athlete is different. Our training has been based on exploiting the best capabilities of each athlete. Say, if an athlete has a slow reaction capacity, like Dayron, we take advantage of his power. Others, like Valle, were not very fast or powerful but were very dedicated to training and concerned about improving technically. There is also the case of men like Anier, who was not very fast either but was skilled, explosive and extremely combative.
Who do you consider the best of all time in short hurdles?
-That's a thorny question. But because of the strength, elegance, rivalry and technique exhibited by those athletes, for me the best have been Dayron Robles and Liu Xiang, with Allen Johnson, Anier García and Colin Jackson in second places.
What opinion do you have of the Cuban-Spanish Olympic runner-up Orlando Ortega?
-Today he is one of the good hurdlers in the world and has a lot of potential.
To what extent do you owe your dedication as a coach to Heriberto Fernández Arroyo?
-I have always stated that he was the initiator of the Cuban hurdles school because his initial triumphs were in the first National School Games, while he was a Physical Education teacher at the Basic Secondary School of Ranchuelo, my hometown.
Do you believe that a Cuban hurdles school really exists?
-That name was not created by us hurdles coaches but by the foreign sports press. I heard it for the first time at a press conference, I asked the reason for the expression and they told me that only Cuba, being a small country, had had two female and one male finalist in Barcelona 1992, two male finalists in Atlanta 1996, a champion in Sydney 2000 and a female finalist, a bronze in Athens 2004 and another title in Beijing 2008. And then we had two more finalists in London 2012 and a silver in Rio 2016, because Ortega emerged from that school. This, without counting the medals achieved in outdoor and indoor world championships.
Why do you think talents like Yordan O'Farril and Roger Iribarne failed to exploit all their potential? Could it be then that the school is on the way to its disappearance?
-O'Farril and Roger are athletes who have shown that they have the potential for great results, but I don't know what has happened. And of course, if the first-level results disappear, we will have to talk about the Cuban hurdles school in the past, because respect is only given by results.
In general sense, national athletes tend to make impact performances in events in Cuba and then fizzle abroad. Could it be that the times and marks of these events are not reliable?
-I don't know if it will be like that. When I was technical director we had to change the departure system for tours in Europe since results were measured to be able to leave; now the same thing may be happening and the coaches will accelerate the result. Having an important brand at the height of the month of March is not an achievement, but a cause for concern.
He has often referred to the need to know the psychological profile of each athlete. Can you give me an example of how that element has paid dividends for you?
-I pay a lot of attention to each athlete, knowing their temperament to know how I have to talk to them in training or before a competition. Training an athlete with a sanguine temperament is not the same as training one with a melancholic character.
What elements do you incorporate into your training that differentiate you from the preparation method of other elite coaches?
-The hurdle exercises are the same anywhere in the world, but I do them with technical objectives appropriate to each athlete.
You have said that you did not want athletes for Central American or Pan American triumphs, but Olympic ones. What importance do you give to ambition in the success of a coach?
-That aspect is very important. Athletes have to know that training at a high level is a commitment of total dedication and extreme discipline. For me, the high level is training and sacrificing to participate in the Olympics and World Cups. I always told them that if they had the criteria to make marks to go to the Central Americans that they should not waste their time, that in the Cuban hurdles school you had to think big. And I tell you, it could be that an athlete was only of Central American level, but I had to see him train and take care of himself and compete seeking the Olympic mark.
Does Santiago Antúnez still consider himself the best coach in the world, or do you think that the time when the IAAF recognized him as such is already behind him?
-It's not that I consider myself the best coach in the world today, that's what the results show. We'll see how it goes this year but I think we're off to a good start. I just want to see how far the results of our training system go here.
What do you think?
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