Lázaro Martínez (triple jumper)
A Cuban triple jumper who rocketed from teenage world records to the global championship podium, defying the island's athletic gravity.
Born 1997 (age 29)·Cuban triple jumper·Birthday: November 3·Generation Z
Biography
Lázaro Martínez emerged from Cuba's rich track and field tradition not as a gradual prospect, but as a teenage sensation who rewrote the record books. As a youth, he launched himself to distances that hinted at a future challenging the world's best. His career, however, unfolded like the event itself—a series of powerful hops, steps, and jumps against the challenges of international competition and the pressure of early promise. The long-awaited payoff came in Budapest in 2023, where he captured a World Championship silver medal, a hard-won validation of his talent that cemented his status as Cuba's leading field event threat. His story is one of patience and explosive power, a jumper who spent years fine-tuning his phases to finally land among the elite.
Generation Z
1997–2012
Born into smartphones, social media, and school shootings. The most diverse generation in history. Pragmatic about money, fluid about identity, anxious about the climate. They do not remember a world before the internet.
Lázaro was born in 1997, placing them squarely in the Generation Z. The events that shaped this generation — social media, climate anxiety, and a pandemic — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Lázaro Was Born
The biggest hits of 1997
#1 Movie
Titanic
Best Picture
Titanic
#1 TV Show
ER
Lázaro's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1997Born
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2002Started school
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2010Became a teenager
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
2013Could drive
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
2015Could vote
Paris climate agreement; same-sex marriage legalized in the US
Gas: $2.43/galHome: $171,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson ft. Bruno MarsBest Picture: Spotlight
2018Turned 21
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 29 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won the silver medal in the triple jump at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
- Set a World Junior Championship record of 17.13m in the triple jump at the 2014 event in Eugene.
- Formerly held the world youth best mark in the triple jump with a leap of 17.24m.
- Has consistently ranked among the top global triple jumpers, representing Cuba at multiple world championships.
Did You Know?
His former world youth best jump of 17.24m, set in Havana in 2014, would have placed him in the top 10 at the 2016 Olympic Games.
He competes in both the triple jump and the long jump, though the triple jump is his primary discipline.
He was coached by famed Cuban jumps coach Daniel Osorio, who has worked with multiple Olympic medalists.
“Every jump is a fight with the board, the air, and the sand.”
