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The Cuban jumper Jorge Hodelín set a new personal best of 8.46 meters (+1.9 m/s wind) during the Envol Trophée Auvergne held in France, the best mark of his career to date.
According to the Facebook page Cuba camino a Los Angeles 2028, the 19-year-old, originally from Cabaiguán, Sancti Spíritus, set the record on just his second attempt and, after securing the victory, opted not to complete the remaining two jumps.
Hodelín's complete sequence in the competition was: 8.06 meters on the first attempt, 8.46 meters on the second, 8.07 meters on the third, a foul on the fourth, and he withdrew from the last two.
The podium was completed by two French athletes who were well behind the Cuban: Erwan Konate took second place with 7.88 meters and Mathis Vaitulkin finished third with 7.80 meters.
The performance in France comes at an exceptional moment for Hodelín, who had just finished third in the Diamond League in Rome with a jump of 8.18 meters, a result that also exceeded the minimum requirement for the World Championship by one centimeter.
In that Roman event, the podium was topped by the Bulgarian Bozhidar Sarâboyukov with a jump of 8.26 meters, followed by the Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou with 8.24 meters.
Before Rome, on June 7, Hodelín had triumphed at the International Meeting of Papaflessia in Kalamata, Greece, with a distance of 8.22 meters.
This streak of results —victory in Greece, bronze in the Diamond League, and now a personal best in France— confirms a steady progression throughout the entire outdoor season of 2026 and establishes him as one of the top-performing Cuban jumpers in the European athletics circuit.
Hodelín's trajectory has been meteoric for his age: at 18, he made his debut at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo after qualifying with a jump of 8.34 meters, and during the 2026 indoor season, he achieved fourth place at the World Indoor Championships in Toruń.
Cuba has a long tradition in men's long jump, with historical figures such as Iván Pedroso, Olympic champion in Sydney 2000, and Hodelín is emerging as the generational successor of that lineage in a 2026 season that is looking toward the World Athletics Championships.
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