Misleidis GONZÁLEZ

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Updated 2 March 2008

Misleydis GONZÁLEZ Herrera, Cuba (Shot Put)

Born: 19 June 1978, Bayamo; 1.79m/75kg

Manager: Javier Sotomayor/Jesús Molina Coach: Justo Navarro

Born in the eastern city of Bayamo, the slender Misleydis González took up athletics at an early age, soon showing her potential for the throws, particularly the shot put.

González excelled in the National Youth Championships and a 14.48m toss earned a spot in the national junior team in 1995. She ended her junior career with a 15.87 effort, but could not win a medal at the 1997 Pan American Junior Championships in Havana.

After joining the national senior team later that year, González improved gradually until she broke the 17m mark in 2000. A year later, she enjoyed her first international success, winning at the Central American and Caribbean Championships in Guatemala.

In 2003, she joined the 18m club and successfully defended her CAC title in St. George’s, Grenada, but failed to reach the podium at the Pan American Games. The following year marked a major breakthrough as she improved her best by over half a metre. More importantly, though, she stayed consistent in major competitions.

As an example of that, González made it to the final in her World Indoor Championships debut, in Budapest, in 2004, in which she finished sixth. That summer, she placed second to her training partner, Yumileidi Cumbá, at the Ibero-American Championships in Huelva, Spain, before finishing seventh in her first Olympic experience, in Athens.

For the second time in one year, two Cuban women had reached the shot put final in a global competition. Cumbá, who had taken the silver medal in Budapest, claimed the gold in Athens.

González came close to 19 metres in 2005, but failed to qualify for final of the World Championships in Helsinki on a cold day. She made up for the disappointment with a bronze medal at the World University Games in Turkey.

In 2006, she finally broke the 19m barrier (19.10) and finished second to Cumbá once again with a silver medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.

In 2007, she could not improve her personal best but achieved a major goal in her career with the Pan American Games crown in Rio de Janeiro, followed by her first World Championships final, in Osaka, in which she was 11th. In both cases, she prevailed over her friend and archrival Cumbá.

On the subject of the World Indoor Championships, after being absent in Moscow 2006, González hopes to make the final once again and assess how her training is doing towards the main objective of the season: the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Personal Bests

19.10 (2006); 18.56i (2004)

Yearly Progression

1994 - 12.41; 1995 - 14.48; 1996 - 15.80; 1997 - 15.87; 1998 - 15.76; 1999 - 16.19; 2000 - 17.55; 2001 - 17.54; 2002 - 17.79; 2003 - 18.11; 2004 - 18.73; 2005 - 18.92; 2006 - 19.10; 2007 - 18.97.
 

Career Highlights

2001  1st Central American and Caribbean Championships
2003 1st  Central American and Caribbean Championships
2003 4th Pan American Games
2004 6th World Indoor Championships
2004 2nd Ibero-American Championships
2004 7th Olympic Games
2005 10th World Championships
2005 3rd World University Games
2006 2nd Central American and Caribbean Games
2007 1st Pan American Games
2007 11th  World Championships

Prepared by Javier Clavelo for the IAAF ‘Focus on Athletes’ project. Copyright IAAF 2008