Dayron Robles

Dayron Robles

Personal information
Nationality	Cuba
Born	19 November 1986 (1986-11-19) (age 25) Guantánamo, Cuba
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	110 metre hurdles
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	110m hurdles: 12.87 s (Ostrava 2008)
Medal record Men’s athletics Competitor for  Cuba Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing 110 m hurdles World Indoor Championships Gold 2010 Doha 60 m hurdles Silver 2006 Moscow 60 m hurdles Pan American Games Gold 2007 Rio de Janeiro 110 m hurdles Gold 2011 Guadalajara 110 m hurdles Pan American Junior Championships Gold 2005 Windsor 110 m hurdles

Dayron Robles (born 19 November 1986) is a track and field athlete who specialises in the 110 metre hurdles.

He won his first major medal (a silver) in the 60 metres hurdles at the 2006 World Indoor Championships. He finished the 2006 season having improved his outdoor best to 13 seconds and become the Central American and Caribbean Games champion. Pan American gold came the following year in which also set a meet record of 12.92 seconds at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final – making him the joint fourth fastest ever.

He reached the pinnacle of his event in 2008 by setting a world record of 12.87 seconds in June at the Golden Spike Ostrava meet,^[1] and winning an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in 12.93 seconds. Injury ruled him out for much of 2009, but he returned strongly with a championship record win at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Career

He won his first international medal at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics, taking the silver medal in the 110 m hurdles which was Cuba's only medal of the competition.^[2] At the 2006 World Indoor Championships in Moscow he finished second with a new personal best time (indoor) of 7.46 seconds.^[3][4] He improved upon this time with a run of 7.33 s at the 2008 PSD Bank Meeting – this was a Panamerican record and made him the second-fastest ever indoors, behind Colin Jackson.^[5]

At the 2008 World Indoor Championships in Valencia he didn't advance from the heats due to fact that he stopped running, thinking that fellow hurdler Liu Xiang had made a false start. This was great disappointment for Robles, who had posted nine of the 11 fastest times of the winter season and was a favorite for winning the gold medal.^[6]

At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, many anticipated a Robles/Liu showdown in the final, but Liu was forced to pull out injured in the opening heat due to tendinitis.^[7] Robles went on to comfortably win the gold medal, posting a time of 12.93 s in the final.^[8]

During the 2009 IAAF World Championships, Dayron Robles was forced out of the competition, not finishing his semi-final because of muscular injury. After recovering from his injury, he entered the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships. The 60 metres final was the first time in over two years that Robles had faced Liu and Terrence Trammell in the same race. Robles began the race slowly but his power and technique saw him overhaul Trammell in the second half of the race to finish in 7.34 seconds, the third quickest time ever over the distance. The win marked a return to form and he said his first indoor gold ahead of the American was as important to him as his Olympic victory two years earlier.^[9]

After a season's best run of 13.12 seconds in the rain to win at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting, he secured his first 2010 IAAF Diamond League victory at the Golden Gala with a time of 13.14 seconds,^[10] followed by a win at the Memorial Primo Nebiolo later that month.^[11] His best run of the season (13.01) at the Athletissima meet made him the second fastest man that year behind David Oliver, but an injury curtailed yet another season. He returned to action in May 2011 and won at the Grand Prix Région Guadeloupe meet.^[12]

Robles finished first in the 110m hurdles at the 2011 World Athletics Championships, with a time of 13.14 seconds. However, there was controversy surrounding the result as replays showed Robles clashed arms with Liu Xiang, who was leading the race at the time, and was disqualified.^[13]

At the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, Robles' gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles was canceled due to interfering with competitor Liu Xiang.^[14]

Achievements

Personal bests

Event	Time (seconds)	Venue	Date
50 metres hurdles	6.39	Stockholm, Sweden	21 February 2008
60 metres hurdles	7.33	Düsseldorf, Germany	8 February 2008
110 metres hurdles	12.87	Ostrava, Czech Republic	12 June 2008

• All information from IAAF Profile^[15]

Competition record

Robles leading the 110 metre hurdles final at the Beijing Olympics

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
2003	World Youth Championships	Sherbrooke, Canada	6th	110 m hurdles
2004	World Junior Championships	Grosseto, Italy	2nd	110 m hurdles
2005	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Nassau, Bahamas	2nd	110 m hurdles
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	2nd	60 m hurdles, 7.46 s PB
	Central American and Caribbean Games	Cartagena, Colombia	1st	110 m hurdles, 13.12 s CR
2007	Panamerican Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	1st	110 m hurdles, 13.25 s
	World Championships in Athletics	Osaka, Japan	4th	110 m hurdles, 13.15 s
	IAAF World Athletics Final	Stuttgart, Germany	1st	110 m hurdles, 12.92 s CR
2008	Golden Spike Meet	Ostrava, Czech Republic	1st	110 m hurdles, 12.87 s WR
	Olympic Games	Beijing, PR China	1st	110 m hurdles, 12.93 s
2009	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Havana, Cuba	1st	110 m hurdles
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	1st	60 m hurdles
2011	2011 World Championships in Athletics	Daegu, South Korea	DQ	110 m hurdles
	Pan American Games	Guadalajara, Mexico	1st	110 m hurdles

References

1. ^ Dillman, Lisa (2008-06-13). "Dayron Robles sets world high hurdles record". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/13/sports/sp-newswire13. Retrieved 2009-07-03. 
2. ^ Clavelo, Javier (2008-02-28). Focus on Athletes – Dayron Robles. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-17.
3. ^ "World Indoor Championship Results". The America's Intelligence Wire. 2006-03-11. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-13857027_ITM. Retrieved 2009-07-03. 
4. ^ "Liu Xiang to meet Robles in World Champs". http://www.cctv.com/program/sportsscene/20080308/101409.shtml. Retrieved 2009-07-03. 
5. ^ Gordon, Ed (2008-02-09). Robles faster still – 7.33 in Düsseldorf. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-12.
6. ^ "Robles’ elimination a disappointment for all hurdlers". http://www.iaaf.org/WIC08/news/kind=100/newsid=43894.html. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
7. ^ Frederik Balfour (August 18, 2008). "China Olympic Hero Liu Xiang Quits Games". BusinessWeek. http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2008/gb20080818_700953.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5. Retrieved July 3, 2009. 
8. ^ "Merritt of U.S., Cuba's Robles capture track gold". http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/athletics/story/2008/08/21/day-13-mens-track-finals.html. Retrieved 2009-07-03. ^{[dead link]}
9. ^ Arcoleo, Laura (2010-03-14). Doha 2010 – Robles grabs first World gold in style. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-17.
10. ^ 2010 IDL Golden Gala Results. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-14.
11. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2010-06-13). Kaki scorches 1:43.48, Robles improves to 13.08 in Turin. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-14.
12. ^ Robinson, Javier Clavelo (2011-05-08). Robles debuts with 13.35 victory in rainy Guadeloupe. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-13.
13. ^ "IAAF.org Day 3 Results". IAAF. 2011. http://daegu2011.iaaf.org/ResultsByDate.aspx?racedate=08-29-2011/sex=M/discCode=110H/combCode=hash/roundCode=f/results.html#detM_110H_hash_f. Retrieved August 29, 2011. 
14. ^ Turnbull, Simon (30 August 2011). "Turner gets his hands on bronze after touch robs Robles of gold". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/turner-gets-his-hands-on-bronze-after-touch-robs-robles-of-gold-2345889.html. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 
15. ^ "Robles, Dayron biography". IAAF. http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=0/athcode=196713/index.html. Retrieved 2009-03-03. 

External links

• IAAF profile for Dayron Robles
• IAAF "Focus on Athletes" article

Records
Preceded by Liu Xiang	Men's 110 m Hurdles World Record Holder June 12, 2008 –	Succeeded by Incumbent
Sporting positions
Preceded by Liu Xiang	Men's 110 m Hurdles Best Year Performance 2007 (alongside Liu Xiang), 2008	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Asafa Powell	IAAF Performance of the Year 2008	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Robles, Dayron
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	19 November 1986
Place of birth	Guantánamo, Cuba
Date of death
Place of death