Leonel Suárez Fajardo (born September 1, 1987) is a decathlete from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. He was bronze medalist in the event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics and silver medalist at the 2009 World Championships. He won a third consecutive global medal at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

, taking bronze. He was born in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

. His personal best for the decathlon is 8654 points (which set in Havana, winning the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships).

Career

Suárez was fourth at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic C ...

. In 2008, he was also fourth at

Hypo-Meeting The Hypo-Meeting is an annual athletics (sport), athletics competition that takes place in the Mösle stadium in Götzis in Vorarlberg (Austria) held in the spring (late May, early June). In its history, a total of three world records have been se ...

(setting a national record of 8366 pts) and finished as runner-up in the

IAAF World Combined Events Challenge The World Athletics Combined Events Tour (formerly IAAF Combined Events Challenge and World Athletics Challenge – Combined Events) is an annual series of combined track and field events meetings, organised since 1998 by World Athletics, with he ...

that year. He scored a gold medal at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics. He competed at the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation ...

, but only managed seventh place. In the outdoor season, he was runner-up at the 2010

Multistars Multistars is an annual international Combined track and field events competition held in Lana, South Tyrol, Lana, Italy in late April or early May as part of the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge. Established in 1988 the meeting took place in ...

meeting in

Desenzano del Garda Desenzano del Garda ( lmo, label= Brescian, Dezensà) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy, on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda. It borders the communes of Castiglione delle Stiviere, Lonato, Padenghe sul ...

, finishing with 8112 points behind American Jake Arnold. He was third at the

at the end of May, but he reached the top of the podium at the

Décastar Décastar (stylised ''DECASTAR'') is an annual athletics competition that takes place in Talence, in the department of the Gironde in France. Organised by World Athletics, it is one of the athletics meetings that make up the World Athletics Chal ...

competition in

Talence Talence (, ; oc, Talança, ; ca, Talença, ) is a commune in the Gironde department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is adjacent to it on the south side. It is ...

with a total of 8328 points. At the 2011 Hypo Meeting he threw a meeting record of 75.49 m in the javelin, although his final score of 8440 points for second place was some distance behind the winner Trey Hardee. After a modest start at the 2011 TNT - Fortuna Meeting, he began the second day in ninth place but he pulled himself back into contention and, helped by a

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

best of 5.00 m, he took the men's title with a total of 8231 points. At the

in August, Suárez won the bronze medal in decathlon with a final points tally of 8501. Although he had not won all of is outings, his consistent high scores over the three meetings earned him the

IAAF Combined Events Challenge The World Athletics Combined Events Tour (formerly IAAF Combined Events Challenge and World Athletics Challenge – Combined Events) is an annual series of combined track and field events meetings, organised since 1998 by World Athletics, with hep ...

title that year.Suárez and Chernova are the overall winners of the 2011 IAAF Combined Events Challenge
IAAF (2011-09-22). Retrieved on 2011-10-01.

Personal best

*Decathlon: 8654 pts –

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, 4 July 2009

International competitions

References

External links

* *
Tilastopaja biography

Leonel Suárez
in EcuRed, the official Cuban online encyclopedia (Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Suarez, Leonel 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Santiago de Cuba Cuban decathletes Cuban male athletes Olympic athletes of Cuba Olympic bronze medalists for Cuba Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Cuba World Athletics Championships medalists Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 21st-century Cuban people