It’s the last but it won’t be the last. Cuban athletics is immersed in an unstoppable bloodletting. The lack of freedom on the Caribbean island and the immense possibilities that Europe presents in the form of sponsorship contracts, high-level competitions, managers and economic aid to elite athletes is causing Cubans, endowed with enormous physical potential, to embrace this horizon massively. Just “run away,” as they call their disappearances from national team rallies. Jenns Fernández, 21 years old, did it this Monday as soon as he set foot on Spanish soil, when he arrived with his team at Barajas airport. He’s a sprinter, so sneaking around isn’t a problem for him.
Jenns Fernández is a tremendous speed talent, one of the best bullets that has lit up the Caribbean in recent times. Nicknamed Simpson’s Twinkle, at just 18 years old he ran the 100 meters in 10.14, a great time for a junior athlete. Fernández, an admirer of Usain Bolt, achieved the Cuban record in his category and was nominated as one of the great Caribbean names for the future of speed.
Fernández’s arrival in Spain has taken place in a decisive week for Cuban athletics. This Wednesday the long jumper Lester Lescay made his debut in Huelva, another of the talents that leave the Cuban factory and end up leaving the national team. Lescay did not have a good debut (7.44 meters) but he already enjoys in Guadalajara the privileges of European athletics. Luis Felipe Méliz, the new Lescay coach on Spanish soil, downplayed the result, relativized it and justified ABC with a terse: “It’s his first test.”
Lescay, Fernández… Cuban athletics seems to be bleeding to death and the trend is that the European teams, mainly Spain and Portugal, will continue to strengthen themselves with athletes from Cuba. “They decided to leave and it’s their problem,” the great Alberto Juantorena used to reluctantly lament, but the Cuban economy does not seem to be able to stop this flight of talent. The drip is being constant in 2022.
