Cuban hurdler Ortega defects after Russia ‘Worlds’
HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — The Cuban athletics federation says hurdler Orlando Ortega has not returned to the country after competing at the 14th IAAF World Athletics Championships in Russia last week.
The federation said in a statement yesterday that Ortega “abandoned” the Cuban delegation that competed
in Moscow.
The 22-year-old Ortega did not make it past the first qualifying race in the 110m hurdles in Russia, finishing only sixth in his heat with a time of 13.69 seconds.
Considered one of Cuba’s best hurdlers since Dayron Robles, Ortega was sixth at the 2012 London Olympics and had the third-best time of the season heading into Moscow.
Ortega ran in the ‘Worlds’ after the Cuban federation dismissed a six-month indiscipline ban handed to him for refusing to compete in an event in Moscow in June.
