The triple jumper Andy Díaz Hernández, born in Havana and representing Italy, is among the ten nominees for the 2026 World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year award. The Cuban is striving for the highest individual recognition in athletics after a season in which he achieved three major titles and recorded a jump of 18.15 meters, the fourth best mark in the history of triple jump.
The nomination was announced on October 6 by World Athletics. Voting will be open until October 17 and fans can participate through an official poll. Díaz is competing for an award that brings together figures from different disciplines, not just jump specialists.
Three major titles and a historic leap in 2026
Díaz, 30 years old, began building his candidacy in March at the World Athletics Indoor Championships held in Toruń, Poland. There, he retained the world crown in the triple jump with a distance of 17.47 meters, achieved on his first attempt. This result allowed him to secure two consecutive indoor world titles following the gold he won in Nanjing 2025, where he jumped 17.80 meters.
On August 15, he delivered his most important performance of the year at the European Championship in Birmingham. In his second attempt, he reached 18.15 meters, with a legal wind of +1.7 meters per second. He won the gold medal, set a new Italian record, and became the fourth man to jump the farthest in the history of the event. His mark was just 14 centimeters shy of the 18.29 meters with which British athlete Jonathan Edwards set the world record in 1995.
The European final also had a strong Cuban influence: Pedro Pablo Pichardo, who was also born on the island and represents Portugal, finished second with a distance of 17.76 meters, while the Italian Andrea Dallavalle secured the bronze with 17.37 meters. CiberCuba reported on that historic victory of Andy Díaz in Birmingham, marking his first major international outdoor title.
The third crown arrived on September 5 in Brussels during the final of the Diamond League. The Havana native won with 17.74 meters on his first attempt, setting a meeting record and leaving Pichardo behind, who came in second with 17.51. In this way, he achieved his fourth Diamond League title, according to the official summary of the Memorial Van Damme.
The Italian Athletics Federation highlighted that Díaz was the only athlete to achieve that combination of titles in 2026: Indoor World Championship, continental championship, and Diamond League. The consistency of his results, in addition to the jump of 18.15 meters, explains his inclusion on the list of candidates.
How to vote for Andy Díaz and when the poll closes
Fans can participate from any country through the official World Athletics survey to choose the athletes of the year 2026. In the men's section appears Andy Díaz Hernández (ITA), noted for the titles he has won this season and his mark of 18.15 meters.
The form asks you to select three male candidates and three female candidates, not just one athlete. It also requests your name, email address, and country before submitting your vote. It is important to complete both categories and follow the survey instructions to register your participation.
According to World Athletics, voting closes on Saturday, October 17 at midnight Central European Summer Time (CEST). Fans' votes represent 25% of the result; the other 75% is equally divided among athletes participating in the 2026 World Athletics Series events, accredited media professionals, and members of the World Athletics structure.
Of the ten male contenders, three finalists will be selected, to be announced along with the three female finalists on November 10 and 11. The winners will be revealed on November 29 during the World Athletics Awards ceremony in Monaco. Thus, the nomination does not mean that Díaz has already won the award.
Duplantis, Alison dos Santos, and other figures among his rivals
The Cuban is measured against some of the major figures in world athletics. The men's list includes the Swedish Mondo Duplantis, who raised the world record in pole vault to 6.31 meters; the Brazilian Alison dos Santos, notable in the 400-meter hurdles; and the British Josh Kerr, a specialist in middle-distance events.
Also listed are the American Kenneth Bednarek, the Slovenian Kristjan Čeh, the Botswanan Collen Kebinatshipi, the Sri Lankan Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, the Kenyan Sabastian Sawe, and the American Ja’Kobe Tharp. They all compete for a single men's prize, without distinction between races, throws, or jumps, according to the revamped system for 2026.
From Havana to the Olympic podium and the world elite
Andy Díaz was born in Havana on December 25, 1995. He severed ties with Cuban federated athletics in 2021 and continued his career in Italy, the citizenship of which he obtained in February 2023. Since August 2024, he has been eligible to represent Italy in international competitions, according to his World Athletics profile. His coach is former Italian triple jumper and Olympic medalist Fabrizio Donato.
His first major Olympic medal came in Paris 2024: bronze with a distance of 17.64 meters for Italy. That final provided a unique image for Cuban sports: all three medalists were born on the island, although they represented different countries. Jordan Díaz took the gold for Spain; Pedro Pablo Pichardo, the silver for Portugal; and Andy Díaz, the bronze for Italy, as noted by CiberCuba.
The journey to that podium was not easy. In 2024, the jumper recounted that during his first months in Rome, he even slept on the street in front of an immigration office while completing his paperwork. Two years after winning his Olympic medal, the athlete is among those vying for one of the top honors in international athletics.
For those who follow Cuban sports both on the island and abroad, his nomination highlights the international dimension of a generation of jumpers trained in Cuba who now compete under different flags. The decision regarding the 2026 award will be made in November, but the deadline for the public to support Andy Díaz ends on October 17.
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