Javier Sotomayor, a leap into eternity that remains unparalleled

Javier Sotomayor (Limonar, Cuba, 1967) has been waiting 30 years for someone to surpass the bar he left for history at 2.45 meters. He is one of the best athletes in history, Prince of Asturias Sports Award, Olympic champion in Barcelona ’92, world champion and the best example that, although titles remain forever and records are there to be beaten, there records that show the greatness of an athlete better than any other achievement. His high jump, 2.45 meters in 1993, is his legacy. Indestructible, indelible and still beyond the reach of several generations of jumpers who followed him.

It was his second visit to the MD Grand Gala, which honored him in 2020, shortly before the pandemic began, and yesterday he noticed that his legend does not stop growing. In 1993, in Salamanca, he broke his record for the last time, one centimeter above the height of a soccer goal, to illustrate in something tangible the atrocities he was capable of when he overcame his fear of heights – which weird he had until he was 15 years old. The Cuban legend, who now lives between Spain (Guadalajara) and Cuba, was convinced then, three decades ago, that his record would not last long, and today remains untouched, compiled as one of the oldest in the athletic program. “As long as I have the record, I put that before my titles. This is what people remember me for the most. And the day someone crosses here, I will be the first to greet them”