The Hispanic-Cuban athlete Yulenmis Aguilar, who has been residing in A Coruña, Galicia, for four years, secured a spot in the javelin throw final at the Paris Olympic Games, which will take place next Saturday.
Aguilar achieved the best mark outside of the direct qualification, set at exactly 62 meters, with an initial throw of 61.95 meters, sufficient to obtain the ninth-best reference and advance to the final that will take place this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (local time).
In the qualifiers, held at the Stade de France, Aguilar competed in group B. Group A saw only three throwers surpass the 62 meters needed to secure a spot in the final.
Aguilar began her series with two competitors, the Japanese Kitaguchi and the Polish Andrejczyk, surpassing the requirement on her first attempt.
Yulenmis, the ninth in the launch, ended up just a few centimeters short of joining them, registering 61.95 meters, the best mark among those who did not achieve direct qualification. That initial performance placed her in a good position, surpassed only by the Colombian Flor Ruiz in the first round.
In the second round, Aguilar was unable to improve her initial mark, recording a throw of 58.35 meters. Only the Croatian Kolak managed to surpass her in that round, securing her place in the final.
Despite that, the Cuban-Spanish thrower remained hopeful of improving her position and getting closer to her best mark of the season, which was 63.90 meters, achieved in February. However, her last attempt was 59.92 meters.
Aguilar had to wait patiently while the other competitors completed their throws, but none of them managed to surpass her, which confirmed her advance to the final as the best mark outside of the direct qualification.
From being expelled from the Cuban national team to becoming Spain's Olympic hope in javelin.
Yulenmis Aguilar, who was expelled from the national team nearly six years ago, stated in an interview with the Efe agency in April that Spain opened the doors that were closed to her in her country.
The 27-year-old woman from Bayamo, Granma province, stated that she loves Spain as much as she once loved Cuba in a sporting sense.
"I even love Spain a little more because it has opened the doors that were closed for me in Cuba, as they left me out of the selection without any explanation. If they didn't want me to represent them, in Spain I have found affection," he emphasized.
The athlete arrived in Spain at the end of December 2020 with a work visa that was valid until 2024, but along the way, she was granted nationality.
Aguilar resides in the municipality of Oleiros, located in the province of La Coruña, in Galicia, but continues to go on vacation to the island, where his wife and entire family stay.
Yulenmis has not represented Cuba in an Athletics tournament since the Central American Games in Barranquilla (Colombia) in 2018, where she won bronze. It was then that the Cuban authorities removed her from the team.
"They called me and told me that they were not counting on me for the next season, and I decided to leave," he recounted on one occasion.
In 2021, he competed in eight competitions, six in Spain and two in Portugal, of which he won seven. In 2022, he surpassed all his previous records by reaching 64.17 meters at the Spanish Outdoor Championship in Nerja, Málaga.
It was then that his relationship with the Spanish Athletics Federation began. Pedro Sánchez's government granted him nationality in April 2024 so that he could compete in the Paris Olympic Games.
His coach is the veteran Raimundo Fernández, who helps him perfect his technique and achieve optimal physical condition after a year without competing due to injuries and suffering from depression.
Her path has not been easy because it has been fraught with injuries, especially in one shoulder, which dislocates continuously due to a genetic issue, but there she is, ready to compete in an Olympic final next Saturday.
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