A quarter of a century ago

The giant Javier Sotomayor levitates in time and space. His image, trapped in the retina of the eye, is stamped forever in memory and in eternity. Today marks a quarter of a century of one of the most extraordinary achievements of universal athletics: the prodigious vertical leap of the ultraclbad Sotomayor 2.45 meters! , The equivalent of jumping back the crossbar of a football goal

The shadows lie on the track of the stadium of Salamanca. They are shortly before 9:05 pm Tuesday, July 27, 1993. The afternoon is lukewarm, the last rays of the reddish balloon, bathe the fans waiting impatiently for the first attempt of Sotomayor . Breathe, concentrate, visualize the vertical jump. He goes to the bar, disengages himself and separates himself from the track, with his right hand, in the path that he intends to follow, small material or invisible objects. Again observe the difficult ribbon placed at 2.45 m in height.

Crinkle eyes, prepare the body and mind for great harmonic effort and precision. Static, mark two pulses up. Take five steps back as part of a ritual. Breaks inertia by short strides and accelerated, abruptly, of a huge amplitude, cyclopean, elegant and from there gives six more in increasing acceleration in a curved line that describes the left of 39; ;goal.

Communicates all power on the floor of his left foot on the synthetic sidewalk. The body, in an explosion of energy, the student majestically; On the axis from head to toe, turn counterclockwise. His abdominal power pulls his legs. Pbad the bar. Describe an ephemeral and eternal parable. Her heels rub against the penis and make her tremble; the action is tinged with drama. A wave of electrical emotion suspends the breathing of the stadium. The eyes of Sotomayor do not lose sight of it. The ribbon remains horizontal. The throat of the stadium utters a hoarse cry, salutes the prodigious world record.

It was a quarter of a century ago. 2.45 m high. Perhaps the aphorism can also be applied: What nature does not give, Salamanca does not lend . The legendary and legendary Javier Sotomayor (1.96 m tall, 82 kilos) was a gifted who was hammered on the anvil of the drive.

Born October 13 in Limonares, Matanzas Province, Cuba, showed his talent at 15: with his powerful legs, he jumped two meters; At 17, he jumped 2.33 m, and at age 21, he reached his first world record on September 8, 1988, in Salamanca, 2.43; erased the mark of Swedish one centimeter Patrik Sjöberg . The following year, on July 29, 1989, at Escambrón, in San Juan de Puerto, he takes the MR at 2.44 m

The flight of Javier Sotomayor condenses a multitude of efforts, tests, transformation, biomechanical research, technical evolution, in a test limited by the gravitational force, by the laws of Newton . It represents the zenith point, the perfection, of the Fosbury Flop.

A few years ago, on the track of the Sports City, I took these words from Sotomayor : "I believe that the man will reach 2.50 m". This sign took four years of intense effort to jump a centimeter longer and leave RM in strength.

Even when the Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim wounded a few weeks ago, approaching two cm, 2.43 m Brussels, 09-05-2014, it is hard to think today As a man realizes the prediction of his own " Soto ", The Prince of the Heights .