American Idol 2008 – Ivan Pedroso speaks from the heart
Iván Pedroso speaks from the heart
IVAN Pedroso, five-time World champion in the indoor long jump, has yet to include the word “retirement” in his vocabulary, although he knows the name of his successor, Panamanian Irving Saladino, for whom he predicted great success.
“Retirement!!” Pedroso exclaimed as he began a conversation with Granma International at the stadium in east Havana.
However, the Havana native clarified that while he has not been training for the last six months, “I’m not happy about it; I would have like to keep jumping at least this year, because I feel like I’m still in good shape.”
Not a very talkative person by nature, Pedroso refused to comment on his retirement, officially announced at the end of last year.
ADVICE AND ENCOURAGEMENT FOR CUBA’S JUMPERS
The 35-year-old athlete plans to attend the Indoor World Championship competitions in Valencia, Spain with a little bit of nostalgia, remembering that with five gold medals in his event, he has only been surpassed by María Mutola, who won six in the 800-meter race.
“Saladino was my favorite, but he won’t be competing because of an injury; regardless, I consider him the strongest candidate for an Olympic gold medal in Beijing,” Pedroso commented. He added, “I broke the hegemony of the U.S. athletes in the long jump, and Saladino stepped up to be my replacement; it’s really interesting, because everything is in the hands of a Latin American.”
Since 1999, the Cuban has held the second-best mark of all time in the indoor long jump, with 8.62 meters, behind Carl Lewis of the United States (8.79). Saladino made his mark, 8.42 meters, in 2008.
Before heading off to Valencia, Pedroso admitted that he felt “strange” thinking that he would be sitting in the stands at the competition, but added that “I’m going to experience it intensely and help my fellow athletes in whatever they need me for.”
That will be great help for Cuba’ jumpers. “Yargelis (Savigne) has good possibilities in the triple jump, as do the guys in the long and triple jump, along with Dayron, who’s really doing well this year,” he explained.
A member of the country’s Athletics Commission, Pedroso is one of those in charge of international affairs, together with Javier Sotomayor, who holds the World record in the high jump.
“I just started, and I’m learning,” Pedroso commented. “Sometimes I feel bad about not being out on the field, but I’ll get over it. With this responsibility, I’m staying in track and field, together with Soto; that is very important for assimilating this new life.”
SYDNEY 2000: THE BEST MEMORY; ATLANTA 1996, THE WORST
With a personal best record of 8.71 meters, Pedroso dominated the long jump for many years. He won the Outdoor World Championship in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001, along with being crowned Olympic champion in Sydney 2000 and winning three gold medals in the Pan-American Games of 1995, 1999 and 2003.
But when looking back, he said that the Sydney gold was the best memory of his career: “It’s the greatest thing for an athlete, the title that we all dream of.”
Four years later, before the Olympic Games in Atlanta, a serious injury left him with the bitterest memory of his sports career.
“In 1995 I did really well, felt really good and thought that 1996 was going to be a great year for me, but it turned out to be the worst, with the injury and an operation just a few months before the Atlanta Games, which I competed in without being fully recovered.”
Not holding the World record is a source of frustration for the Cuban athlete, although he revealed that he sometimes considers himself to be the true owner of that record. In July 1995, Pedroso jumped 8.96 meters in Sestrières, Italy, one centimeter more than the 8.95 mark of Mike Powell of the USA, but there was a problem with the wind measurement, and the International Federation did not recognize his mark as a record.
The Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro was Pedroso’s last competition, where he came in fourth with a mark of 7.86 meters. Not very content with that, the athlete said he did not consider himself “finished,” and that he didn’t like the idea of retiring: “I can’t do it in defeat,” he stated.
Pedroso holds a degree in Physical Education, and said that he would like to be a coach one day. “That was the idea I have for after I retire; I was also thinking about opening up a jumping school here in Cuba.”
Someday, perhaps, he will dedicate himself to guiding his son Ivancito, now 7 years old, but “nowadays, young people have a different mentality than the one we had. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up on my son following in my footsteps.”
GREAT FUTURE FOR SALADINO
For now, Pedroso predicts a “great future” for the Panamanian jumper Saladino, winner of the World Championship in Osaka, and who “has a lot of talent,” he said.
“Saladino is a great competitor. He never gives up, and you have to reckon with him until the last jump. He also has good jumping technique, and he is calm and relaxed at major events; he knows how to overcome difficult moments,” Pedroso commented.
Saladino is the number one candidate for an Olympic gold medal in Beijing, Pedroso says. “The important thing there is winning, not the mark, but he has the qualities to win, although you can’t rule out someone else emerging suddenly.”
For his part, Saladino, who won the World Championship in Osaka, Japan with a mark of 8.57 meters —his own personal best— and was Pan-American champion in Rio, has said a number of times that Pedroso is his idol, and that he dreamed of following in his footsteps.
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