Leonel Suárez

Leonel Suárez Fajardo (born September 1, 1987) is a decathlete from Cuba. He was bronze medalist in the event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics and silver medalist at the 2009 World Championships. He won a third consecutive global medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, taking bronze.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Suárez and the second or maternal family name is Fajardo.
Leonel Suárez
Leonel Suárez at the 2011 TNT – Fortuna Meeting in Kladno
Personal information
Full nameLeonel Suárez Fajardo
Nationality Cuba
Born (1987-09-01) 1 September 1987
Holguin, Cuba
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Weight78 kg (172 lb)[1]
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)Decathlon / Heptathlon
Medal record
Men’s athletics
Representing  Cuba
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2008 BeijingDecathlon
Bronze medal – third place2012 LondonDecathlon
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2009 BerlinDecathlon
Bronze medal – third place2011 DaeguDecathlon
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara Decathlon
CAC Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Havana Decathlon
Updated on 4 July 2013.
Leonel Suárez during the 2011 Hypo-Meeting

He was born in Santiago de Cuba. His personal best for the decathlon is 8654 points (which set in Havana, winning the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships).

Career

Suárez was fourth at the 2007 Pan American Games. In 2008, he was also fourth at Hypo-Meeting (setting a national record of 8366 pts) and finished as runner-up in the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge that year. He scored a gold medal at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics.

He competed at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, but only managed seventh place. In the outdoor season, he was runner-up at the 2010 Multistars meeting in Desenzano del Garda, finishing with 8112 points behind American Jake Arnold.[2] He was third at the Hypo-Meeting at the end of May, but he reached the top of the podium at the Décastar competition in Talence with a total of 8328 points.[3]

At the 2011 Hypo Meeting he threw a meeting record of 75.49 m in the javelin, although his final score of 8440 points for second place was some distance behind the winner Trey Hardee.[4] After a modest start at the 2011 TNT - Fortuna Meeting, he began the second day in ninth place but he pulled himself back into contention and, helped by a pole vault best of 5.00 m, he took the men's title with a total of 8231 points.[5] At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in August, Suárez won the bronze medal in decathlon with a final points tally of 8501.[6] Although he had not won all of is outings, his consistent high scores over the three meetings earned him the IAAF Combined Events Challenge title that year.[7]

Personal best
  • Decathlon: 8654 pts – Havana, 4 July 2009

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Cuba
2005 ALBA Games Havana, Cuba 4th Decathlon 7048 pts
2007 NACAC Combined Events Championships Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 2nd Decathlon 7843 pts
Pan American Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4th Decathlon 7936 pts
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, PR China 3rd Decathlon 8527 pts NR
2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships Havana, Cuba 1st Decathlon 8654 pts NR AR
World Championships Berlin, Germany 2nd Decathlon 8640 pts
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 7th Heptathlon 5764 pts
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 3rd Decathlon 8501 pts
Pan American Games Guadalajara, Mexico 1st Decathlon 8374 pts
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 3rd Decathlon 8523 pts
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 10th Decathlon 8317 pts
2015 Pan American Combined Events Cup Ottawa, Canada — Decathlon DNF
Pan American Games Toronto, Canada – Decathlon DNF
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6th Decathlon 8460 pts
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom – Decathlon DNF
2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Barranquilla, Colombia 1st Decathlon 8026 pts
2019 Pan American Games Lima, Peru 5th Decathlon 7799 pts

References
  1. Leonel Suarez's profile at the IAAF site
  2. Sampaolo, Diego (2010-05-10). Arnold and Goncharova prevail in Desenzano del Garda – IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-04.
  3. van Kuijen, Hans (2010-09-19). Suarez and Chernova prevail in Talence - IAAF World Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-19.
  4. Sampaolo, Diego (2011-05-29). World champions Hardee and Ennis set world season leads in Götzis - IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
  5. Procházka, Michal (2011-06-17). Chernova impresses with 6773pts tally in Kladno – IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
  6. Hart, Simon (August 28, 2011). "World Athletics Championships 2011: American Trey Hardee retains decathlon title as Ashton Eaton fades". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  7. Suárez and Chernova are the overall winners of the 2011 IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF (2011-09-22). Retrieved on 2011-10-01.
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