Iván Lázaro Pedroso Soler (; born 17 December 1972) is a retired Cuban athlete, who specialized in the long jump, and is the current coach of Yulimar Rojas and Jordan Díaz.
Career
Pedroso was born in Havana, Cuba. In July 1990, aged just 17, Pedroso jumped more than 8 metres for the first time. Facing tough competition from Carl Lewis, Mike Powell and others, he still won numerous gold medals in international competitions in the early nineties. He almost never finished in less than first place. When Powell and Lewis retired, Pedroso became the dominant athlete, winning numerous indoor and outdoor World Championships. In fact he won all major championships from 1997 to 2001, including an Olympic gold medal in Sydney.
On 29 July 1995, Iván Pedroso jumped 8.96 metres at high altitude in Sestriere. The wind reading was +1.2 metres per second, therefore the jump would have been eligible for records and top lists, beating Mike Powell's existing world record by one centimetre. However, the Italian Athletics Federation did not forward the result to the IAAF for ratification, since the wind reading was declared invalid, because a person stood in front of the anemometer, probably intercepting the correct wind measurement.TRACK AND FIELD; Pedroso's World Mark In Long Jump in Doubt, New York Times, 4 August 1995
Despite his great success in the World Championships, due to injuries, he did not make a great impact on the Olympic Games like former rival Carl Lewis. He did finish fourth at the age of 19 in Barcelona 1992, but in Atlanta 1996 he had injury troubles and could only finish 12th in the final. At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Pedroso spectacularly won the gold medal with his final attempt. In a tough contest in Athens 2004, he finished 7th. Pedroso has not entered in any major championships since, although he still had several jumps over 8 metres.
On 26 September 2007, Pedroso announced his retirement.
His official personal best is 8.71 metres, which he jumped in Salamanca in 1995.IAAF Athlete Biography - IAAF website, 20 August 2008 The mark still stands as the Cuban record.
He is the former coach of 2008 triple jump Olympic champion Nelson Évora and 2013 world champion Teddy Tamgho. As of 2026, he is the coach of 2020 Olympic champion Yulimar Rojas and 2024 Olympic champion Jordan Díaz. Pedroso is a cousin of the hurdler Aliuska López.
Achievements
Representing 1990Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20)Havana, Cuba2nd7.74 m (+0.3 m/s)World Junior Championships Plovdiv, Bulgaria 4th7.81 m (-0.2 m/s)1991Pan American Junior ChampionshipsKingston, Jamaica1st8.08 mPan American GamesHavana, Cuba3rd7.96 m1992Ibero-American ChampionshipsSeville, Spain1st8.53 m (+1.6 m/s)Olympic GamesBarcelona, Spain 4th8.11 m (-0.8 m/s)World CupHavana, Cuba 1st7.97 mRepresenting the Americas.1993World Indoor Championships Toronto, Canada 1st8.23 mWorld Championships Stuttgart, Germany —1995World Indoor Championships Barcelona, Spain 1st8.51 m World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 1st8.70 m (+1.6 m/s)Pan American Games Mar del Plata, Argentina 1st8.50 mIAAF Grand Prix FinalMonte Carlo, Monaco1st8.49 m1996Olympic GamesAtlanta, United States12th7.75 m1997World Indoor Championships Paris, France 1st8.51 m Central American and Caribbean ChampionshipsSan Juan, Puerto Rico1st8.54 m World Championships Athens, Greece 1st8.42 m (+0.1 m/s)Universiade Catania, Italy 1st8.40 m IAAF Grand Prix FinalFukuoka, Japan 1st8.53 m1998Goodwill GamesUniondale, United States1st8.54 mCentral American and Caribbean Games Maracaibo, Venezuela 1st8.45 m World CupJohannesburg, South Africa 1st8.37 m1999World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 1st8.62 m World Championships Seville, Spain 1st8.56 m (+1.1 m/s)Pan American Games Winnipeg, Canada 1st8.52 mIAAF Grand Prix FinalMunich, Germany1st8.43 m2000Summer OlympicsSydney, Australia 1st8.55 m (+0.4 m/s)2001World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 1st8.43 mWorld Championships Edmonton, Canada 1st8.55 m (+1.2 m/s) Goodwill Games Brisbane, Australia 1st8.16 m2002World CupMadrid, Spain 2nd8.19 m (+0.6 m/s)2003Pan American Games Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1st8.23 mWorld ChampionshipsParis, France (q)—2004World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 8th8.09 mIbero-American ChampionshipsHuelva, Spain3rd7.78 mOlympic GamesAthens, Greece 7th8.23 m (+0.7 m/s)2006Central American and Caribbean Games Cartagena, Colombia 2nd7.92 m2007Pan American Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4th7.86 m
References
External links
Iván Pedroso at The Long Jump Database