| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Yoandri Betanzos Francis |
| Born | February 15, 1982 |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 71 kg (157 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Cuba |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | Triple jump |
Medal record | |
| Updated on 21 June 2013 | |
Yoandri (or Yoandris) Betanzos Francis (born February 15, 1982, in Santiago de Cuba) is a Cuban athlete competing in the triple jump.
They say, he was almost born on the track: His mother, Cuban sprinter Amarailis Francis, suffered from a heavy abdominal pain during her daily practice, and was immediately transferred to a hospital in her hometown Santiago de Cuba. A couple of hours later, she gave birth to her son.[ citation needed ]
Later, he moved to Ciego de Ávila, the hometown of his father, Cuban boxer Álvaro Betanzos, and started his sports career following in his father's footsteps as a boxer. After about a year, he changed to athletics, firstly competing as a high jumper. In 1993, he became Cuban national champion in his age group setting a new record of 1.86 m, beating the old mark set by Javier Sotomayor.[ citation needed ] As he was not tall enough, his coaches proposed to change to triple jump. [1]
His personal best outdoor jump is 17.65 metres, achieved in April 2009 in Havana. As of 21 June 2013, this result places him sixth on the all-time Cuban performers list, behind Yoelbi Quesada, Lázaro Betancourt, Aliecer Urrutia, Pedro Pichardo, and Alexis Copello. [2]
| Event | Best | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outdoor | |||
| High jump | 2.10 m [1] | ||
| Long jump | 6.10 m (wind: +0.4 m/s) |  Castellón | 28 June 2011 |
| Triple jump | 17.65 m (wind: +1.4 m/s) | Havana | 25 April 2009 |
| Indoor | |||
| Long jump | 7.51 m |  Bratislava | 30 January 2011 |
| Triple jump | 17.69 m |  Doha | 14 March 2010 |
|
