The World Cup for Artistic Gymnastics specialties concluded this Sunday in Cairo, Egypt, with a tremendous performance by the Panamanian Hillary Heron, outstanding disciple of the Cubans Carlos Rafael Gil and Yareimi Vazquez.
Hillary, 19 years old, conquered the bronze medal in show jumping horse, with a score of 13,599 points, only surpassed by the American Joscelyn Roberson and the Italian Asia D'Amato. Hillary herself finished fifth in the floor final.
The other Panamanian contestant was the 16-year-old girl Lana Herrera, who made his international debut in the adult category.
Hillary is a great prospect, last year she won the South American Youth Championship in the jumping specialty. This time he placed 12th in his own specialty. This event on Egyptian soil has served as preparation for both with a view to the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador (the first time that Panama will compete with a full team) and the Pan American Games to be held this year in Santiago, Chile.
When the happy coaches were interviewed, they both agreed that the representative of the isthmus presented two magnificent jumps with high degrees of difficulty.
The first, an extended front somersault with a twist and a half that has a value of 5.40 units and is known by the name Chusovitina, a Russian gymnast who precisely competed in the vault final and was its creator. The second is a Yutchenko, with a double turn valued at 5 points.
"These World Cups give points for the ranking with a view to the World Cup and the Olympic Games. To give you an idea, with Heron's performance on vault and floor he practically secured the ticket to the World Cup," Gil highlighted.
"It goes without saying what it means for us to place one of our athletes on a World Cup podium. From now on we will have to count on the girls of the isthmus in the great gymnastics competitions on the planet. It is a historic result for Panamanian gymnastics"said the Cuban coach.
"It is good to point out the support for our work that the Panamanian Sports Federation and the country's Olympic Committee have provided, as well as our club. Nolimits. Now the preparation is aimed at the Pan American Championship that will be held in Medellín, Colombia, in May and that will provide places for the Pan American Championships and the World Championship in Belgium, the latter qualifying for the Paris Olympics," he said.
As reported CyberCuba on several occasions, Carlos Rafael and Yareimi, former heads of the Cuban national teams of the fine discipline, were practically expelled from their jobs due to the human miseries, misunderstandings and nonsense that are already becoming so common in Cuban sports.
Once in Panama, the couple who recently celebrated the birth of their first daughter, Aitana, has taken their work very seriously, leading their athletes to dream of competing in Paris 2024.
"At the moment, Yareimi and I train the entire senior team: Karla Navas, continental champion in 2022 in vault, Valentina Brostella, Lucía Paulino, Lana Herrera and Hillary Heron. As a substitute, Celia Curiakus. We intend to turn Hillary into a gymnast all around"Gil revealed.
"We also prepared a youth squad that already took part in the World Cup in the category last March (they were fifth on the continent). In addition, I in particular take care of two male gymnasts," he added.
Unquestionably, Many days full of emotion will be experienced by the Panamanian gymnasts and with them, two Cuban technicians: Yareimi Vázquez and Carlos Rafael Gil.
What do you think?
SEE COMMENTS (1)Filed in: