Leonel Suárez

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Suárez and the second or maternal family name is Fajardo.

Leonel Suárez Fajardo (born September 1, 1987) is a decathlete from Cuba. He was a bronze medalist in the event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics and a silver medalist at the 2009 World Championships. He won a third consecutive global medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, taking bronze.

Leonel Suárez

Leonel Suárez at the 2011 TNT – Fortuna Meeting in Kladno
Personal information
Full name	Leonel Suárez Fajardo
Nationality	Cuba
Born	(1987-09-01) 1 September 1987 (age 37) Holguin, Cuba
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)[1]
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	Decathlon / Heptathlon
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Cuba Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Decathlon 2012 London Decathlon World Championships 2009 Berlin Decathlon 2011 Daegu Decathlon Pan American Games 2011 Guadalajara Decathlon CAC Championships 2009 Havana Decathlon
Updated on 4 July 2013

Leonel Suárez during the 2011 Hypo-Meeting

He was born in Santiago de Cuba. His personal best for the decathlon is 8654 points (which set in Havana, winning the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships).

Career

Suárez was fourth at the 2007 Pan American Games. In 2008, he was also fourth at Hypo-Meeting (setting a national record of 8366 pts) and finished as runner-up in the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge that year. He scored a gold medal at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics.

He competed at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, but only managed seventh place. In the outdoor season, he was runner-up at the 2010 Multistars meeting in Desenzano del Garda, finishing with 8112 points behind American Jake Arnold.^[2] He was third at the Hypo-Meeting at the end of May, but he reached the top of the podium at the Décastar competition in Talence with a total of 8328 points.^[3]

At the 2011 Hypo Meeting he threw a meeting record of 75.49 m in the javelin, although his final score of 8440 points for second place was some distance behind the winner Trey Hardee.^[4] After a modest start at the 2011 TNT - Fortuna Meeting, he began the second day in ninth place but he pulled himself back into contention and, helped by a pole vault best of 5.00 m, he took the men's title with a total of 8231 points.^[5] At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in August, Suárez won the bronze medal in decathlon with a final points tally of 8501.^[6] Although he had not won all of is outings, his consistent high scores over the three meetings earned him the IAAF Combined Events Challenge title that year.^[7]

Personal best

• Decathlon: 8654 pts – Havana, 4 July 2009

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Cuba
2005	ALBA Games	Havana, Cuba	4th	Decathlon	7048 pts
2007	NACAC Combined Events Championships	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	2nd	Decathlon	7843 pts
	Pan American Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	4th	Decathlon	7936 pts
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, PR China	3rd	Decathlon	8527 pts NR
2009	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Havana, Cuba	1st	Decathlon	8654 pts NR AR
	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	2nd	Decathlon	8640 pts
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	7th	Heptathlon	5764 pts
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	3rd	Decathlon	8501 pts
	Pan American Games	Guadalajara, Mexico	1st	Decathlon	8374 pts
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	3rd	Decathlon	8523 pts
2013	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	10th	Decathlon	8317 pts
2015	Pan American Combined Events Cup	Ottawa, Canada	—	Decathlon	DNF
	Pan American Games	Toronto, Canada	–	Decathlon	DNF
2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	6th	Decathlon	8460 pts
2017	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	–	Decathlon	DNF
2018	Central American and Caribbean Games	Barranquilla, Colombia	1st	Decathlon	8026 pts
2019	Pan American Games	Lima, Peru	5th	Decathlon	7799 pts

References

1. Leonel Suarez's profile at the IAAF site
2. Sampaolo, Diego (2010-05-10). Arnold and Goncharova prevail in Desenzano del Garda – IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-04.
3. van Kuijen, Hans (2010-09-19). Suarez and Chernova prevail in Talence - IAAF World Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-19.
4. Sampaolo, Diego (2011-05-29). World champions Hardee and Ennis set world season leads in Götzis - IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
5. Procházka, Michal (2011-06-17). Chernova impresses with 6773pts tally in Kladno – IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
6. Hart, Simon (August 28, 2011). "World Athletics Championships 2011: American Trey Hardee retains decathlon title as Ashton Eaton fades". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
7. Suárez and Chernova are the overall winners of the 2011 IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF (2011-09-22). Retrieved on 2011-10-01.

External links

• Leonel Suárez at World Athletics
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Leonel Suárez". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
• Tilastopaja biography