The Paris 2024 triple jump gold medalist has bought a house in Spain to live in with his family from Cuba
14ymedio, Havana, 5 January 2025 — The family of the Olympic gold medalist in triple jump, the Cuban Jordan Díaz, is in the process of leaving the Island. The naturalized Spanish athlete gave the news in an interview offered to the newspaper El País: “I want to bring them, so I have bought a house for them to come.”
Díaz, who deserted from the Cuban national team in 2021 to seek a “better future” for himself and his family, said that his parents supported his decision at all times. “When my parents gave me their blessing, they told me, ’you have to go, you have to leave if you want to be great’.”
The athlete recalled: “It’s not a matter of one day saying I’m going to leave and nothing happens. You have to really think about it, see the consequences it can bring you, think about friendships, all the life you have led here, your family.”
Díaz’s career has been on the rise since he arrived in Spain. He trains with Iván Pedroso, the former Cuban champion who has won medals for his training work in Venezuela and Spain. After winning the gold at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, the triple-jumper beat Spain’s absolute record on four occasions and placed it at 17.87 meters, achieved in the local Championship held in Nerja.
Before the Olympics, he was crowned in the 2024 European Athletics Championship with a jump of 18.18 meters, the third best jump in history and a record for Spain. “I didn’t have more than 18 in mind; I think it’s an incredible score,” he told the same newspaper.
For his achievements on the track he was awarded the ICON Award. “It’s a great prize. All recognition is good and all prizes are important for an athlete, because you see how in the end the work you are doing is rewarded,” he said.
Díaz focuses his goals for this year on completing the triple crown with the World Athletics Championships, which will be held in 2025 in Japan. He has dedicated part of his training to perfecting his technique, which has also helped him overcome the fibrosis he suffers as a result of poorly healed injuries and the tendonitis he had in Cuba.
“Cuba’s method is not to do many sprints but to work more on the jump. That’s why I had a lot of power there, I did taller jumps to gain distance, but when you approach with more speed and lower the jump angle, you pull further forward. That’s what Iván has changed for me, and thus we have obtained better results. That’s why I need to be physically well,” said the medalist.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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