Yamilé Aldama Pozo (; born 14 August 1972) is a Cuban-born

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

er. She represented

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 ...

until 2003,

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

from 2004 to 2010, then

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

from 2011 onwards. A four-time Olympian (2000–12), she won a silver medal at the 1999 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2012 World Indoor Championships.

Life and career

Aldama 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.high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

and

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

events, but in 1994 she tried triple jump and two years later qualified for the Olympic team for

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Unable to compete there due to injury next year she reached the final at the

1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 6th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from March 7 to March 9, 1997. It was the first athletic championships to introduce women's pole vault. There were a total nu ...

finishing in sixth place. Two years later she won her only medal to date at the major international final taking

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla, Seville, Spain, between the Augus ...

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Spain. The next year at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

she finished in fourth position thus cementing her place as an elite triple jumper. In 2001, she married Andrew Dodds, a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

television producer, and thereafter relocated to the United Kingdom. Following her marriage she applied for British citizenship. However, shortly after, her husband was sentenced to 15 years for his part in trafficking heroin valued at £40million. Unconnected to the offence herself, she decided to remain in the United Kingdom with her husband. As she had not lived in Britain before, she had to wait the mandatory three-year period to achieve a passport. She expressed her decision to represent Great Britain at the

2004 Summer 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 ...

, and was supported by

David Moorcroft David Robert Moorcroft (born 10 April 1953) is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as ...

. Due to this she did not take part in the 2003 World Championships as this would have hindered her chance to switch allegiance to Great Britain. Yamile Aldama - 2012 Parade

However, in 2004 the British passport agency refused to push forward her application for a passport. As she moved to Great Britain in November 2001, she would not have been eligible for a passport until November 2004, three months after the Olympics. Aldama instead sought a new country to represent, and after offers from Spain, Italy, and the Czech Republic she instead switched to

. After acquiring Sudanese citizenship on 23 January 2004, she went to represent Sudan at the

where she finished in fifth place. In 2004, she also broke the Sudanese triple jump record achieving 15.28 metres. After again taking fourth place at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics (, ), under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first ...

she missed the finals at the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and 2009 World Championships as well as the final of

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. On 5 February 2010, nearly ten years after her initial application, she finally gained British citizenship and a year later, now competing as a Great Britain representative, took fifth-place finish 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 the ...

. On 9 March 2012, at the age of 39 years, Aldama became the IAAF World Indoor Champion in Triple Jump, in Istanbul, Turkey, the second oldest athlete ever to achieve the feat. In the process, just over five months before her 40th birthday, she improved upon the Masters W35 record twice. The indoor results have not been ratified as a world record, but later in May she jumped 14.65 at the Rome Diamond League meet to set what is the current record. On that jump, she landed awkwardly and injured her shoulder. She had to compete in the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, less than a month short of 40 years old, with the injury still finishing fifth. At the ''British Athletics Writers' Association'' awards in October 2012, Aldama collected the ''BAWAs 2012 Inspiration award. She also finished third behind winner

Jessica Ennis Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (née Ennis; born 28 January 1986) is a British retired athlete who specialised in the heptathlon and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion (2 ...

and Christine Ohuruogu in the placings for "British Athlete of the Year". In January 2013, Aldama made the decision to represent Scotland at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

, making her the first athlete to have competed for four different nations. She achieved the feat by participating in this competition, albeit on behalf of England instead.

Achievements

References

External links

* * Sports-Reference.com profile fo
Yamilé Aldama
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldama, Yamile 1972 births Living people Athletes from Havana Cuban female triple jumpers British female triple jumpers English female triple jumpers Sudanese triple jumpers Sudanese female athletes Olympic female triple jumpers Olympic athletes for Cuba Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic athletes for Sudan Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Pan American Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games African Games gold medalists for Sudan African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Sudan World Athletics Championships athletes for Cuba World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games World Athletics Indoor Championships winners British Athletics Championships winners Sudanese people of Cuban descent British people of Cuban descent Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Cuban Athletics Championships winners Arab Games silver medalists Arab Athletics Championships winners 21st-century English sportswomen 20th-century English sportswomen