Nationality Cuba Role Competitor Sport Modern pentathlon Height 1.71 m | Coached by Alejandro Guarch Weight 67 kg Name Yaniel Velazquez | |
Full name Yaniel Velazquez Garcia Born 12 July 1987 (age 36) ( 1987-07-12 ) Havana, Cuba | ||
Yaniel Velázquez Garcia (born 12 July 1987 in Havana) is a Cuban modern pentathlete. He won a silver medal for the men's event at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which earned him a qualifying place for the Olympics, with an impressive score of 5,344 points.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Velazquez became the nation's first pentathlete to compete in the men's event. During the competition, he made a strong start in the early segments, but struggled to maintain his position in the entire event, when he set the slowest time of 2:16.38 in freestyle swimming. He managed to attain fair scores for horse riding and cross-country running; however, these were insufficient for him to place near the top, placing fifteenth out of thirty-six competitors in the men's event, with a total score of 5,292 points.