Javier Sotomayor

Javier Sotomayor

Sotomayor in 2009
Personal information
Nationality	Cuban
Born	(1967-10-13) 13 October 1967 (age 49) Limonar, Matanzas, Cuba
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	82 kg (181 lb)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	High jump
Medal record Men’s Athletics Representing  Cuba Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 1 0 World Championships 2 2 0 World Indoor Championships 4 1 1 Pan American Games 3 0 0 CAC Championships 2 0 1 Total 12 4 2 Olympic Games 1992 Barcelona High jump 2000 Sydney High jump World Championships 1993 Stuttgart High jump 1997 Athens High jump 1991 Tokyo High jump 1995 Gothenburg High jump IAAF World Indoor Championships 1989 Budapest High jump 1993 Toronto High jump 1995 Barcelona High jump 1999 Maebashi High jump 1985 Paris High jump 1991 Seville High jump Pan American Games 1987 Indianapolis High jump 1991 Havana High jump 1995 Mar del Plata High jump Friendship Games 1984 Moscow High jump CAC Championships 1985 Nassau High jump 1989 San Juan High jump 1983 Havana High jump Universiade 1989 Duisburg High jump Pan American Junior Championships 1986 Winter Park High jump CAC Junior Championships (U20) 1986 Mexico City High jump

Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈβjeɾ sotomaˈʝor]; born October 13, 1967) is a Cuban former track and field athlete, who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic champion, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; his personal best of 2.45 m (8 ft 0 ¹⁄₄ in) makes him the only person ever to have cleared eight feet.

He was a two-time gold medallist at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics and also won two silver medals at the competition. At the IAAF World Indoor Championships he won four gold medals between 1989 and 1999. In addition, he won three straight titles at the Pan American Games from 1987 to 1995. He is regarded as the best high jumper of all time. Cuban boycotts of the Olympics in 1984 and 1988 and an injury in 1996 cost him chances at additional Olympic medals, but he returned to win the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Sotomayor retired in 2001.

Sotomayor was born October 13, 1967 in Limonar, Matanzas Province. The son of a day-care worker and a sugar factory maintenance man, Sotomayor was first sent to a Cuban sports school as a prospective basketball player because of his height. At age 14, coaches made him a high jumper. By 19, he was ranked No. 5 in the world.

Sotomayor listed his competition weight at 82 kilograms (181 pounds). He is 1.95 metres (6 ft 5 in). Sotomayor is engaged to Amaya Gonzalez, sharing private and professional life. Has four sons. One of his sons, Javier Sotomayor García, has also competed in the high jump.