Javelinist Yulenmis Aguilar, expelled from the Cuban team, triumphs in Spain

The Cuban JavelinistYulenmis Aguilar, expelled from the national team in 2018,set a record in the Spanish Championship in Nerjaand positioned herself as the sixth athlete in the Diamond League in Monaco.

Aguilar, 26, the under-20 world record holder with a throw of 63.86 m, surpassed his mark last June with 64.17 m, a record with which he would have been the runner-up in theWorld Athletics Championship, held in the American city of Eugene, Oregon, but since he does not have Spanish nationality he cannot yet compete for Spain, according to the athletics magazine.Runner's World.

At the beginning of August, thejavelinist he wonMemorial Gyulaiwhich was played in Hungary, with a throw of 61.99 and, later, competed in theDiamond League in Monaco, where it did not have the expected results but was classified in sixth position.

"Coming to Spain was the best decision of my life, on a financial level I had better offers in Mexico or Japan, but on a sporting level, nothing beat training with Raimundo [Fernández], his resume says it all," the Cuban told magazine.

The athlete arrived in Spain at the end of 2020 with a visa valid until 2024 and this year she signed her first professional contract with the Valencia Athletics Club, after two years without training.

In 2018, after winning the bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla, Colombia, the Cuban authorities removed her from the national team. “They called me and told me that they didn't count on me for the next season and I decided to leave,” Aguilar said.

He later retired from javelin throwing. Between June 2019 and March 2021, he did not compete and dedicated himself to working in a gym until he emigrated from Cuba.

Currently, the athlete lives and trains in the city of Oleiros, in Galicia, where she works as a children's coach.

The javelinist is waiting for naturalization to be able to compete for Spain in the World Cup in Budapest next year. To expedite the procedures for your nationality expeditiously, the board of the Higher Sports Council will have to request a report from the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation confirming the sporting interest, to take it to the Council of Ministers.

In Spain, only two throwers have personal bests that are close to that of Aguilar for having exceeded 60 meters: the retired athlete Mercedes Chilla and Lidia Parada.

“I'm not talking about meters. The results are demonstrating the good physical level I have and a stability in my records [nine competitions over 60 m this year] that give me confidence. Paris 2024 is the great dream," said the athlete.

This year, the Cuban-Spanish triple jumperJordan Diaz, which won in its debut in theDiamond League, in Paris, could not enjoy his victory because World Athletics considered that he still competes under the Cuban flag.

In February 2022, with the support of the Spanish Athletics Federation, he had become a Spanish national. Currently training withIvan Pedroso, along with athletes such as Ana Peleteiro and Yulimar Rojas, important figures in women's athletics.