Michael Butcher. Friday, 18th August 2000. The Scotsman
If you want to be noticed in Cuba, get yourself a Mercedes. And just so your fellow Cubans do not confuse you with any old celebrity, it is preferable to make that a red Mercedes.
That is the mode of transport Javier Sotomayor has been driving for some time now since he became a hero of the revolution by winning Olympic gold in 1992, as well as being world champion and breaking the world record three times.
Cubans have a tendency to celebrate their heroes by giving them all the benefits ordinary Cubans cannot aspire to. It was symptomatic of the Soviet Union and other Communist regimes, but though the original models have gone,Cuba retains the practice of using its sports stars to demonstrate the
superiority of itspolitical system.
That is why when Sotomayor tested positive for cocaine one year ago at the Pan-American Games, Cuba responded with indignation that he had been set up by the forces of capitalism. The battle to have that slur on Sotomayor’s name lifted has been raging all year and it has partly paid off.
Earlier this month the International Amateur Athletic Federation reduced the ban to one year to allow the athlete to compete in Sydney. But he was not entirely exonerated.
He has still been found guilty of a positive drugs test.
That gave Sotomayor less than two months to preparefor his final Olympics and tonight he participates in his second official competition at the Monaco Golden League.
At the first outing last weekend in France he cleared2.28 metres, which is the minimum Olympic qualifying standard and a reasonable workout for a man who has missed 12 months of competition.
But it has not been a year of just driving around in his car.
Like many banned athletes, Sotomayor kept training: "My only mistakes come from alack of competition," he said recently.
"The main problem is in the rhythm of my approach, but it will come back competing."
The Sotomayor statistics are staggering. He is the only man to have gone over the mythical eight-foot barrier (2.45m ). The average of his 20 best jumps is 2.41m . He has jumped 2.35m 89 times and has been over 2.30m 290 times. Apart from his three outdoor records he also holds the indoor world
record.
Without doubt, Sotomayor has been lucky to have his ban reduced. But he had some persuasive people arguing his case. Chief amongst them was Alberto Juantorena, Cuban member of the International Olympic Committee and a double Olympic champion from 1976.
Sotomayor also had a long career - almost 18 years - competing at the highest level without any previous drugs history. | 