Iván Lázaro Pedroso Soler (; born December 17, 1972) is a retired Cuban

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete, who specialized in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, and the current coach of Nelson Évora, Yulimar Rojas, and Jordan Díaz.

Career

Pedroso was born in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and lo ...

, Mike Powell and others, he still won numerous

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s in international competitions in the early nineties. He almost never finished in less than first place. When Powell and Lewis retired, Pedroso became a dominant athlete, winning numerous indoor and outdoor World Championships. In fact he won all major championships from 1997 to 2001, including an Olympic gold medal in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. At altitude in

Sestriere Sestriere (, , , ) is a ski resort in Piedmont, Italy, a ''comune'' (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is situated in Val Susa, from the France, French border. Its name derives from Latin language, Latin: ''ad petram sistrariam ...

in 1995, Iván Pedroso jumped 8.96 meters with a measured wind of +1.2. This would have been the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

, beating Mike Powell by one centimeter. However, the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Athletics Federation did not forward the result to the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

for ratification, since the wind mark was declared invalid, because a person stood in front of the

anemometer In meteorology, an anemometer () is a device that measures wind speed and direction. It is a common instrument used in weather stations. The earliest known description of an anemometer was by Italian architect and author Leon Battista Alberti ...

, probably intercepting the correct wind measurement. Despite his great success in the World Championships, due to injuries, he did not make a great impact on the Olympic Games like former rival Carl Lewis. He did finish fourth at the age of 19 in Barcelona 1992, but in Atlanta 1996 he had injury troubles and could only finish 12th in the long jump final. In the 2000 Olympics (Sydney), Pedroso spectacularly won the gold medal with his last jump. In a tough contest at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, he finished 7th. Pedroso has not entered in any major championships since, although he still had several jumps over 8 metres. On 26 September 2007, Pedroso announced his retirement. His best jump was officially 8.71 meters, in

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

1995.IAAF Athlete Biography
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website, August 20, 2008 He is the coach of 2013 Triple Jump World Champion,

Teddy Tamgho Teddy Tamgho (born 15 June 1989) is a French triple jumper and long jumper. He specialises in the triple jump. He is the former Triple jump#All-time top 25, triple jump world indoor record holder, achieved in winning the final and gold medal at ...

, 2020 Olympic Champion Yulimar Rojas and 2024 Olympic Champion Jordan Díaz. Pedroso is a cousin of the hurdler Aliuska López.

Achievements

References

External links