The Havana native won the gold medal at the Pamplona Athletics Meeting with a mark of 6.47 meters.
14ymedio, Havana, 4 August 2025 — Cuban long jump hopeful Hayla González left the team last Saturday in Pamplona, Spain. Her departure is a significant loss for the national athletics team, which had her as a key player in the upcoming Junior Pan American Games in Asunción 2025. She “was shaping up to be a key player in the 4 x 100 meter relay, even aiming for a starting position in the women’s relay,” according to the Deportcuba website.
González “made the decision not to continue under the orders of the island’s authorities and escaped,” said retired wrestler Roly Dámaso, while recalling that the Havana native was on the verge of participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics, but “missed out on the summer event by just one centimeter.”
The 21-year-old won gold at the Pamplona Athletics Meeting in Spain on July 2. The official outlet Jit praised González for dominating the event with a jump of 6.47 meters, her best mark of the season so far. The competitor also completed two other attempts of 6.37 and 6.40 meters. However, the publication emphasized that she needed “more centimeters because she is still far from the 6.85 meters that has been her personal best since 2024.”
This action, Dámaso pointed out, reflects “the exodus of Cuban athletes dissatisfied with the current system.” Last June, Marys Adela Patterson , a gold medalist at the San Salvador 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, defected from Austria .
Added to the list of those who have left is Cuban sprinter Shainer Rengifo, who in June of last year took advantage of his recovery process from a fractured metatarsal bone in his right ankle in Guadalajara, Spain, to disassociate himself from Cuban sports.
Spain has been a haven for the island’s athletes. This has been the case for triple jumper Jordan Díaz and javelin thrower Yulenmis Aguilar, whose absences have weakened the Cuban athletics team. Both Cubans now compete for Spain.
The absence of renowned athletes led the governing body to reinsert high jumper Juan Miguel Echevarría into the system in April 2024. The return of the Tokyo 2020 silver medalist and 2018 world indoor champion in Birmingham (United Kingdom) came after spending time in Spain as part of Iván Pedroso’s team.
Other retired athletes have found better opportunities to continue competing abroad. Last May, World Athletics confirmed to the Cuban Athletics Federation that Olympic hammer throw champion and former national commissioner Yipsi Moreno is eligible to represent Albania in international events.
Albania became the former commissioner’s second homeland after she took the oath of citizenship in October 2024. Five months earlier, the Cuban participated in a competition held at the Elbasan Arena. Moreno was part of Tirane’s team and crowned her performance with a mark of 63.94 meters in the hammer throw.
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