byLarry Eder
Juan Miguel Echevarri, soaring in Rome, May 30, 2018, photo by PhotoRun.net
Well, the young Cuban has been kicking the proverbial butt. His battles with Luvo Manyonga and Marquis Dendy are entertaining fans around the world. Yesterday, in Bad Langensalza, Germany, Juan Miguel leaped 8.68 meters with a legal 1.7 m/s wind! Juan Miguel Echevarria is the real thing. Last weekend in Des Moines, I asked a keen observer of the LJ, who travels the world and sees big jumpers, what he thought of Senor Echevarria, and if he could break Mike Powell’s seminal 8.95 meters (29 feet, 4.25 inches) WR, from Tokyo 1991 World Championships. My keen observer looked at your favorite blogger and noted, ” Juan Miguel Echevarria will own the WR. This young man is for real.”
Enough said, but must say, we love this young Cuban athlete. We have found few Cuban athletes we do not like. Why? Because, they love athletics. With limited resources for training in Cuba, they show that the joy of the sport, the focus on technique and amazing overall fitness of the young Cuban athletes can always surprise.
RunBlogRun Interviewed Juan Miguel Echevaria at the World Indoor Champs. We included them here, for your viewing pleasure. RunBlogRun will go one further. The WR will be broken this summer by Juan Miguel Echevarria, but, be careful, as Luvo Manyonga could be right there. This is a real LJ battle! Remember, when Mike Powell broke the WR, he was battling Carl Lewis!
Enjoy the three part interview, done by The Shoe Addicts on the young Cuban LJ phenom:
Juan Miguel Echevarria Interview: Part 1/3, Birmingham, England, March 2018: https://www.runblogrun.com/2018/03/juan-miguel-echevarria-gold-medalist-at-the-long-jump-world-indoors-birmingham-speaks-on-his-perform.html
Juan Miguel Echevarria Interview: Part 2/3, Birmingham, England, March 2018: https://www.runblogrun.com/2018/03/juan-miguel-echevarria-gold-medalist-at-the-long-jump-world-indoors-birmingham-speaks-on-his-perform-1.html
Juan Miguel Echevarria Interview, Part 3/3: Birmingham, England, March 2018: https://www.runblogrun.com/2018/03/juan-miguel-echevarria-gold-medalist-at-the-long-jump-world-indoors-birmingham-speaks-on-his-2018-se.html
