Missing Cuban hurdler Orlando Ortega has surfaced in Europe. According to an August 27 Associated Press (AP) report, the 22-year-old athlete has turned up in Italy, where he is staying with friends in an effort to defect to the USA.
Ranked as the number two sprint hurdler in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean island, Ortega disappeared after competing at the recent Moscow World Championships, fuelling speculation that he may have been headed to Russia. However, the head of the All-Russian Athletics Federation, Valentin Balakhnichev, quickly quelled that theory, pointing out that he was not interested in trying to naturalize Ortega so he could compete for Russia.
According to AP, a six-month suspension for insubordination handed to Ortega by the Cuban track and field authorities fuelled his decision to leave Cuba. He and his trainer were punished in July for refusing to compete in a June trial in Russia. The sanction was later lifted and he competed at the World Championships in Moscow.
Considered the hurdler poised to take over from Dayron Robles, Cuba’s top hurdler whom he defeated once before, Ortega finished sixth at the London Olympics last year and arrived in Moscow with the third fastest time of the year – 13.08secs. However, he did not survive the first heat, finishing a shocking sixth, something he blamed on lack of race readiness as a result of his suspension.
After the Games, Ortega traveled with the Cuban delegation to Spain, jumped shipped there and made his way to Italy. On Tuesday, Ortega explained his decision to defect via telephone.
Cries Injustice
“They [the authorities] committed a great injustice with me and my trainer,” AP quoted Ortega as saying. “It affected me a lot and I felt very bad, because I didn’t compete during the two months ahead of the World Championships,” he further pointed out, noting that he had competed abroad many times before, including in New York [this year] and Puerto Rico, but had never thought of defecting until now.
Like Robles, who has been in disagreements with his country’s sports authorities and who recently took his career to Europe with Club Monaco, Ortega has criticized Cuba’s sporting institutions. In speaking out, he said, “You never hear about the lack of attention to the athletes, about the problems, about some track and field leaders who are poor examples to educate the young. But I don’t want to look back; a new life awaits me now.”
The disillusioned Cuban said he was at peace with his decision and that his only goal now is to reach Tampa, Florida in the US to reunite with his mother who lives there.