Silvio Leonard Sarría also known as Silvio Leonard Tartabull (born September 20, 1955, in

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 178,368 in 2022. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, ...

) is a former sprinter from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Career

Leonard first announced his talent when he set a new Cuban 100 metres national junior record in 1973 with a time of 10.24 s. Leonard was successful in the 1974

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for 32 countries and ...

winning the 100 and 200 metres double. He came to the attention of the world when he equalled the then world record for a 100 metres with a hand-timing of 9.9 s on 5 June 1975 in

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

.http://moti-athletics-4x1-m.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=leonard "When did Cuba become a Powerhouse in Athletics", Never Dropped the Baton, April 21, 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.From 1 January 1977, imperial distances were no longer recognised for world-record purposes by the IAAF. Leonard was three-time Pan American Games champion, 1975 100 and 1979 100/200. When winning the title in 1975 he suffered a calamity that could seem comical if it were not for the fact that the outcome for Leonard could have been even worse. Whilst celebrating his win, he fell into the moat around the track at the

Estadio Olímpico Universitario University Olympic Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium located inside Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City. It was built in 1952 and at that time was the largest stadium in Mexico. This stadium has a capacity ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. The injury he suffered to his back required surgery and severely hampered his preparations for the 1976 Olympics. In the race itself, Leonard defeated the Trinidadian

Hasely Crawford Hasely Joachim Crawford TC, OLY (born 16 August 1950) is a former track and field athlete from Trinidad and Tobago. In 1976, he became his country's first Olympic champion. Hasely Crawford Stadium, in Port of Spain, was renamed in his honou ...

who was to win the Olympic 100 metres title the following year. Leonard did recover in time to compete at the 1976 Montreal Olympics but there suffered another misfortune. He cut his left leg on broken glass in the Olympic Village. The injury badly affected his running and he was eliminated in the quarter-finals. In 1977, Leonard was at the peak of his powers. He became the second athlete to run the 100 metres in less than 10 seconds with electronic timing, running in 9.98 s on August 11 in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

(the first was 1968 Olympic champion Jim Hines), nowadays Leonard stands as the only Spanish-speaking 10-second barrier athlete. Leonard also had good speed endurance which he proved when he was the fastest in the world that year in the 200 metres with a time of 20.08 s. At the inaugural

Athletics World Cup The Athletics World Cup was a team-based international athletics competition held in 2018. It featured eight national teams based on world rankings, with each team entering one athlete per event, and points gained on the basis of finishing posi ...

that year, Leonard won bronze in both the 100 and 200 metres whilst representing the Americas. On 13 September he equaled the low-altitude world best time for the 100 m of 10.03 s originally set by Jim Hines at the 1968 AAU National Championships commonly known as the "Night of Speed".The IAAF world records take no account of altitude of the record's venue. However, as it is recognised that sprint events are assisted by altitude, due to decreased air resistance, a separate list is kept of best marks at sea level when they are inferior to the actual world record. He also won the 1977 100-metre Gold at the World Student Games. In 1978 he successfully defended his double Golds in the 100/200 metres at the Central American and Caribbean Games. He also set a personal best and world's fastest time at the 200 metres of 20.06 s on 19 June in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. In 1979, at the second

he won the 200 metres and was runner-up in the 100 metres. He was also Cuban champion and won the Soviet 100 metres championship that year. At the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

Leonard won a silver medal in 100 metres, finishing behind

Allan Wells Allan Wipper Wells (born 3 May 1952) is a British former track and field sprinter who became the 100 metres Olympic champion at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In 1981, he was both the IAAF Golden Sprints and IAAF World Cup gold medall ...

of Great Britain. He then went on to finish 4th in the Olympic 200 metres final in a time of 20.30, narrowly missing out on another medal. Leonard was never a factor at world level after the 1980 season and disappointingly there has been no legacy of world-class Cuban sprinters to follow him and his 100 and 200 metres bests are still Cuban records.As of October 2012. He retired in 1985 and is reportedly now a track coach.

International competitions

¹Representing the Americas

Notes

Rankings

Leonard was ranked among the best in the world in both the 100 and 200 m sprint events over the incredible spread of 8 seasons from 1973 to 1980, according to the votes of the experts of ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

''.

Awards

In 2003, Leonard was inducted into the Central American and Caribbean Athletics Hall of Fame.http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=30529.html "14 to be inducted into the CAC Hall of Fame", iaaf.org, IAAF, 20 July 2005. Retrieved 29 October 2012.

References

External links

Leading Marks by Year
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Silvio Cuban male sprinters 1955 births Living people Sportspeople from Cienfuegos Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Pan American Games silver medalists for Cuba Pan American Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Pan American Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic athletes for Cuba Olympic silver medalists for Cuba Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Competitors at the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games FISU World University Games gold medalists for Cuba FISU World University Games silver medalists for Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1977 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Friendship Games medalists in athletics 20th-century Cuban sportsmen