Yamilé Aldama Pozo ( ar, جميلة الداما; born 14 August 1972) is a Cuban-born

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

er. She represented

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

until 2003, Sudan from 2004 to 2010, then

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

from 2011 onwards. A four-time Olympian (2000–12), she won a silver medal at the 1999 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2012 World Indoor Championships.

Life and career

Aldama was born in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba, and initially represented her country of birth. At first she competed in high jump and heptathlon events, but in 1994 she tried triple jump and two years later qualified for the Olympic team for

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Unable to compete there due to injury next year she reached the final at the

1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 6th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from March 7 to March 9, 1997. It was the first athletic championships to introduce women's pole vault. There were a total numb ...

finishing in sixth place. Two years later she won her only medal to date at the major international final taking silver medal at the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, Spain. The next year at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

she finished in fourth position thus cementing her place as an elite triple jumper. In 2001, she married Andrew Dodds, a Scottish television producer, and thereafter relocated to the United Kingdom. Following her marriage she applied for British citizenship. However, shortly after, her husband was sentenced to 15 years for his part in trafficking heroin valued at £40million. Unconnected to the offence herself, she decided to remain in the United Kingdom with her husband. As she had not lived in Britain before, she had to wait the mandatory three-year period to achieve a passport. She expressed her decision to represent Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and was supported by

David Moorcroft David Robert Moorcroft (born 10 April 1953) is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as ...

. Due to this she did not take part in the 2003 World Championships as this would have hindered her chance to switch allegiance to Great Britain. Yamile Aldama - 2012 Parade

However, in 2004 the British passport agency refused to push forward her application for a passport. As she moved to Great Britain in November 2001, she would not have been eligible for a passport until November 2004, three months after the Olympics. Aldama instead sought a new country to represent, and after offers from Spain, Italy, and the Czech Republic she instead switched to Sudan. After acquiring Sudanese citizenship on 23 January 2004, she went to represent Sudan at the 2004 Summer Olympics where she finished in fifth place. In 2004, she also broke the Sudanese triple jump record achieving 15.28 metres. After again taking fourth place at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

she missed the finals at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships as well as the final of 2008 Summer Olympics. On 5 February 2010, nearly ten years after her initial application, she finally gained British citizenship and a year later, now competing as a Great Britain representative, took fifth-place finish at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

. On 9 March 2012, at the age of 39 years, Aldama became the IAAF World Indoor Champion in Triple Jump, in Istanbul, Turkey, the second oldest athlete ever to achieve the feat. In the process, just over five months before her 40th birthday, she improved upon the Masters W35 record twice. The indoor results have not been ratified as a world record, but later in May she jumped 14.65 at the Rome Diamond League meet to set what is the current record. On that jump, she landed awkwardly and injured her shoulder. She had to compete in the 2012 Olympics, less than a month short of 40 years old, with the injury still finishing fifth. At the ''British Athletics Writers' Association'' awards in October 2012, Aldama collected the ''BAWAs 2012 Inspiration award. She also finished third behind winner

Jessica Ennis Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 28 January 1986) is a British retired track and field athlete from England, specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, ...

and Christine Ohuruogu in the placings for "British Athlete of the Year". In January 2013, Aldama made the decision to represent Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, making her the first athlete to have competed for four different nations. She achieved the feat by participating in this competition, albeit on behalf of England instead.

Achievements

References

External links

* * Sports-Reference.com profile fo
Yamilé Aldama
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldama, Yamile 1972 births Living people Athletes from Havana Cuban female triple jumpers British female triple jumpers English female triple jumpers Sudanese triple jumpers Sudanese female athletes Olympic triple jumpers Olympic athletes of Cuba Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic athletes of Sudan Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Pan American Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games African Games gold medalists for Sudan African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Sudan World Athletics Championships athletes for Cuba World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games World Athletics Indoor Championships winners British Athletics Championships winners Sudanese people of Cuban descent British people of Cuban descent Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games