Yordanis García

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is García and the second or maternal family name is Barrisonte.

Yordanis García Barrisonte (born November 21, 1988 in Pinar del Río) is a male decathlete from Cuba who competed for his native country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, PR China. He is the nephew of Yenima Arencibia.

He had his first international success came at the age of sixteen at the 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics. His winning score in the octathlon, 6482 points, was a new world youth record for the event. García had taken time to develop at the youth level but the Cuban combined events coach, Gabino Arzola, remained convinced that he would mature. Along with Leonel Suárez and Yunior Díaz, García was one of a young Cuban trio that Arzola hoped would gain selection for the 2012 London Olympics.[1] In 2006, García became the Cuban decathlon champion and won a silver medal at the World Junior Championships behind Russian Arkadiy Vasilyev. His runner-up performance was achieved through personal bests in every event but the long jump, which resulted in a Cuban junior record of 7850 points.[2]

García's first senior championship appearances came in 2007, in which he won a silver at the 2007 Pan American Games and took eighth place at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics with a personal best and Cuban record score of 8257 points. He went on to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and just scraped below the 8000-point barrier by eight points, finishing in fifteenth overall. García's compatriot Leonel Suárez, on the other hand, had broken the national record with a 8527 point performance for the Olympic bronze medal. In 2009, García improved his personal best to 8496 points in Havana and went on to finish eighth at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics with 8387 points.

At the start of the outdoor season in 2010, he won at the Erdgas Meeting in Ratingen, Germany – outdoing Suárez with a season's best of 8288.[3] Later that season on the European circuit, he managed fourth place with a total of 8174 points at the Décastar meeting in September – a contest won by his rival Suárez.[4]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  Cuba
2005 World Youth Championships Marrakech, Morocco 1st Decathlon
2006 World Junior Championships Beijing, PR China 2nd Decathlon
2007 Pan American Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2nd Decathlon
World Championships Osaka, Japan 8th Decathlon
2008 Hypo-Meeting Götzis, Austria DNF Decathlon
Olympic Games Beijing, PR China 15th Decathlon
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 8th Decathlon
2011 Pan American Games Guadalajara, Mexico 3rd Decathlon

References

  1. ^ Yordanis Garcia - Beijing in his sights after World Youth Best. IAAF (2005-07-25). Retrieved on 2010-06-21.
  2. ^ Turner, Chris (2006-08-17). World Junior Champs, Day 3 – PM session summary. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-21.
  3. ^ van Kuijen, Hans (2010-06-20). Garcia and Oeser prevail in Ratingen - IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-21.
  4. ^ van Kuijen, Hans (2010-09-19). Suarez and Chernova prevail in Talence - IAAF World Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-19.

External links