Yarisley Silva ready for winter season

Harold Iglesias Manresa

AS the new year begins, Yarisley Silva and her coach Alexander Navas are focused on maintaining the athlete’s position among the world’s pole vaulting elite. The Olympic silver medalist is preparing to initiate her winter season at the Russian Winter competition February 3, in the best possible condition.

In this, her first meet of the year, Silva (with a Cuban indoor record of 4.72) will face challenging rivals of no less caliber than the national favorite Yelena Isinbayeva (5.01), Brazil’s Fabiana Murer (4.82), Anna Rogowska (4.85) from Poland, Britain’s Holly Bleasdale (4.87) and Ukrainian Ganna Shelekh (4.60).

The records of her opponents indicate that the pole-vaulter from Pinar del Río will need to make a supreme effort and incorporate some of the modified techniques she and Coach Navas have devised to extend her approach from 14 to 16 steps, and raise her hold on the pole from 4.3 meters to 4.4.

According to Navas, Yarisley will use a competition pole which supports 170 pounds of pressure and has a flexibility rating of 18.3. These changes, in addition to her strength in the approach, should translate into even higher vaults.

Other prestigious competitions in which Silva hopes to excel include the

Pardubice (Golden Pole, February 5 in the Czech Republic), Donetsk (Pole Vault Stars on the 9th, Ukraine), Bydgoszcz (Pedro’s Cup, the 12th, Poland), Birmingham (British Athletics Indoor Grand Prix, the 16th) and Stockholm (XL Galan 21).