Iván Pedroso

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

Iván Lázaro Pedroso Soler (Spanish pronunciation: [iˈβam peˈðɾoso]; born 17 December 1972) is a retired Cuban athlete, who specialized in the long jump,^[2] and is the current coach of Yulimar Rojas^[3] and Jordan Díaz.

Iván Pedroso

Pedroso
Personal information
Full name	Iván Lázaro Pedroso Soler[1]
Born	(1972-12-17) 17 December 1972 (age 52)[1] Havana, Cuba[1]
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Weight	66 kg (146 lb)[1]
Sport
Country	Cuba
Sport	Athletics
Event	Long jump
Retired	2007
Achievements and titles
Personal best	8.71 m (Salamanca, 1995) NR
Medal record Representing  Cuba Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Long jump World Championships 1995 Gothenburg Long jump 1997 Athens Long jump 1999 Sevilla Long jump 2001 Edmonton Long jump World Indoor Championships 1993 Toronto Long jump 1995 Barcelona Long jump 1997 Paris Long jump 1999 Maebashi Long jump 2001 Lisbon Long jump Pan American Games 1995 Mar del Plata Long jump 1999 Winnipeg Long jump 2003 Santo Domingo Long jump 1991 Havana Long jump Central American and Caribbean Games 1998 Maracaibo Long jump 2006 Cartagena Long jump Summer Universiade 1997 Catania Long jump

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.^[4]

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.^[5] The mark still stands as the Cuban record.

He had been the coach of 2008 triple jump Olympic champion Nelson Évora^[6] and 2013 world champion Teddy Tamgho. As of 2025, 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

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing  Cuba
1990	Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20)	Havana, Cuba	2nd	7.74 m (+0.3 m/s)
	World Junior Championships	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	4th	7.81 m (-0.2 m/s)
1991	Pan American Junior Championships	Kingston, Jamaica	1st	8.08 m
	Pan American Games	Havana, Cuba	3rd	7.96 m
1992	Ibero-American Championships	Seville, Spain	1st	8.53 m CR (+1.6 m/s)
	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	4th	8.11 m (-0.8 m/s)
	World Cup	Havana, Cuba	1st	7.97 m[7]
1993	World Indoor Championships	Toronto, Canada	1st	8.23 m
	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	NM	—
1995	World Indoor Championships	Barcelona, Spain	1st	8.51 m CR
	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st	8.70 m (+1.6 m/s)
	Pan American Games	Mar del Plata, Argentina	1st	8.50 m
	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	1st	8.49 m
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	12th	7.75 m
1997	World Indoor Championships	Paris, France	1st	8.51 m CR
	Central American and Caribbean Championships	San Juan, Puerto Rico	1st	8.54 m w
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	1st	8.42 m (+0.1 m/s)
	Universiade	Catania, Italy	1st	8.40 m GR
	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Fukuoka, Japan	1st	8.53 m
1998	Goodwill Games	Uniondale, United States	1st	8.54 m
	Central American and Caribbean Games	Maracaibo, Venezuela	1st	8.45 m CR
	World Cup	Johannesburg, South Africa	1st	8.37 m[7]
1999	World Indoor Championships	Maebashi, Japan	1st	8.62 m CR
	World Championships	Seville, Spain	1st	8.56 m (+1.1 m/s)
	Pan American Games	Winnipeg, Canada	1st	8.52 m
	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Munich, Germany	1st	8.43 m
2000	Summer Olympics	Sydney, Australia	1st	8.55 m (+0.4 m/s)
2001	World Indoor Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	1st	8.43 m
	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	1st	8.55 m (+1.2 m/s)
	Goodwill Games	Brisbane, Australia	1st	8.16 m
2002	World Cup	Madrid, Spain	2nd	8.19 m (+0.6 m/s)[7]
2003	Pan American Games	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	1st	8.23 m
	World Championships	Paris, France	NM (q)	—
2004	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	8th	8.09 m
	Ibero-American Championships	Huelva, Spain	3rd	7.78 m
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	7th	8.23 m (+0.7 m/s)
2006	Central American and Caribbean Games	Cartagena, Colombia	2nd	7.92 m
2007	Pan American Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	4th	7.86 m