The Cuban long jumper and Olympic medalist,Juan Miguel Echevarría, requested the withdrawal of the national teamathletics by"personal motives", As reportedYipsi Moreno, national commissioner of that sport on the island.
“We respect your decision because behind every athlete there is a human being and we reiterate that the doors remain open for an athlete that we respect and admire”said Moreno during a press conference in which he addressed details of the 75th edition of the Barrientos Athletics Memorial, as reported on Twitter by sports journalist Lilian Cid, fromCubadeportes.
For several days it has been circulating in independent sports media thatEchavarría would not participate in the next World Athletics Championships, scheduled to be held in Oregon, United States.
"Bad news. Cuban Juan Miguel Echevarría, magnificent long jumper, has left athletics. They tell me that Cuba has removed him from the team and that he now performs in a music band. The reason? Because of those things that happen in Cuba related to escapes from the island,” Spanish journalist Gerardo Cebrián published several days ago on Twitter.
"They are communicating it now because this weekend is the Barrientos Memorial and they cannot hide their absence any longer"Cebrián wrote this same Saturday on the aforementioned social network, while emphasizing thatThe athlete actually asked for leave three months ago.
In theTokyo 2020 Olympic Games Echavarría won the silver medal in long jump by achieving the mark of 8.41 meters.
Born in Camagüey, the 23-year-old athlete was until now one of the main figures of Cuban sports in recent years for his multiple achievements in high-level competitions, in which he accumulated at least 12 podiums, with gold medals in events of the Diamond League, World Indoor Championships and Pan American Games, among others.
In addition to silver in Tokyo, among his most recent triumphs he was world indoor champion in 2018, with a record of 8.46 m and Pan American titleholder in Lima 2019 (8.27 m).
Echavarría's retirement joins a series of sporting abandonments recorded in recent months on the island, mainly in disciplines such as baseball,karate, wrestling, athletics andcanoeing
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