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High jumper Javier Sotomayor retires
Javier Sotomayor, the only high jumper to clear 2.44 metres (8 ft), will retire next week, according to the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina.
Javier Sotomayor, the only high jumper to clear 2.44 metres (8 ft), will retire next week, according to the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina.
The 1992 Olympic champion, who turns 34 on Saturday, won the silver medal at last year`s Sydney games. He successfully fought a ban from competition after testing positive for cocaine. During a career of more than two decades, Sotomayor broke five world records, two of which he still holds - 2.45 metres (8-ft-0 1/2 in) outdoors and 2.43 metres (7-11 1/2) indoors.
At the Barcelona games, Sotomayor won the gold with a jump of 2.34 metres (7-8), the lowest height since the 1976 Olympics. He was the only jumper to clear 2.34 metres (7-8) on his first try. He closed his career with a jump of 2.31 metres (7-7) last month at the Yokohama super track meet in Japan.
The Cuban government`s sports institute had no immediate official reaction to Sotomayor`s announcement. Sports officials said on Friday the announcement was not a surprise and that Sotomayor had said earlier he would probably retire before the end of this year.
Sotomayor was a master technician with a fast, head-on approach to the bar. In one year, he lost only once in 32 meets, during a driving rain in Zurich, Switzerland. The positive test for cocaine came after the 1999 Pan American games in Canada. He was stripped of his Pan Am gold medal and banned for two years.
Bureau Report
The 1992 Olympic champion, who turns 34 on Saturday, won the silver medal at last year`s Sydney games. He successfully fought a ban from competition after testing positive for cocaine. During a career of more than two decades, Sotomayor broke five world records, two of which he still holds - 2.45 metres (8-ft-0 1/2 in) outdoors and 2.43 metres (7-11 1/2) indoors.
At the Barcelona games, Sotomayor won the gold with a jump of 2.34 metres (7-8), the lowest height since the 1976 Olympics. He was the only jumper to clear 2.34 metres (7-8) on his first try. He closed his career with a jump of 2.31 metres (7-7) last month at the Yokohama super track meet in Japan.
The Cuban government`s sports institute had no immediate official reaction to Sotomayor`s announcement. Sports officials said on Friday the announcement was not a surprise and that Sotomayor had said earlier he would probably retire before the end of this year.
Sotomayor was a master technician with a fast, head-on approach to the bar. In one year, he lost only once in 32 meets, during a driving rain in Zurich, Switzerland. The positive test for cocaine came after the 1999 Pan American games in Canada. He was stripped of his Pan Am gold medal and banned for two years.
Bureau Report