Cuba’s Yipsi Moreno Changed Her Flag, But Not Her Talent

Sets a new record for Albania

By Mayli Estevez (El Toque)

HAVANA TIMES – In these times when Cuba’s sports news increasingly resembles a tragicomedy tinged with exile, redemption, and symbolic hammer blows, Yipsi Moreno’s story is a gem.

The former commissioner, former parliamentarian, former national idol — and, more recently, former exclusive citizen of the island — has returned to world competition in the hammer throw at age 44, with a new flag in hand and as if time only weighs on mortals.

This week, the Moreno threw 67.96 meters at the European Athletics Championships (Third Division, let’s not forget) and took home the gold… for Albania.

Yes, Albania. That Balkan country whose hammer throw history was, until now, about as well-known as the original recipe for soy meat hash.

But thanks to Yipsi, they now have a new national record and the certainty that their athletics federation is willing to welcome talent regardless of age or origin — as long as it puts them on the world sports map.

This isn’t a mistake or a name mix-up. It’s not some other Yipsi Moreno. It’s the Yipsi Moreno: Olympic champion, three-time world medalist, former Cuban sports authority, and, for a while, the institutional voice of athletics in Cuba.

Yes, the same one who, according to her own account, was dismissed on Cuban television as if it were a midday soap opera. Apparently, in Cuba not even the greats get a proper farewell message.

Yipsi found out about her dismissal sitting at home, in front of the TV. A situation that perfectly sums up the state of things: a lack of respect for those who dedicated their lives to shining in the name of the homeland.

Her time in office, according to some, was “despotic and rude,” though in a country where adjectives are often used as political weapons, that could mean anything from “she didn’t let herself be pushed around” to “she demanded disciplined training.”

Either way, she paid the price. She was left on her own — like so many other athletes who once brought glory to the island.

But don’t be too quick to write her off. If there’s one thing Yipsi knows how to do, it’s reinvent herself with the same power she uses to launch the hammer.

She moved to Albania with her husband and son, obtained citizenship in record time (shout-out to Erion Veliaj, the fastest mayor in the western Balkans!), and decided that, why not, it was time to get back in the game. And she did it in style. Not only does she compete — she wins, breaks records, and puts Albanian athletics on the map.

Who saw it coming? No one. Not even those who thought she was buried in Cuban sporting oblivion. Much less those who imagined her future would be coaching a youth team or teaching hammer throw at a rundown Cuban sports school.

But Moreno isn’t here to pick up the crumbs of nostalgia. She didn’t leave with her head down. She left with hammer in hand. And not for a symbolic act of resistance, but to keep competing. For Albania, of course.

So what does this story tell us? That Cuba’s sports exodus is no longer just about frustrated 20-year-old hopefuls. Now the legends are leaving too — the Olympic greats, the ones who were once part of the political-sports apparatus. And when they leave, they don’t flee: they reinvent themselves, gain new citizenship, and break records.

Meanwhile, in Cuba, they’re still debating whether the blame lies with the “US blockade,” the commissioner’s personality, or the stars.

The truth is that the “little golden cup” who didn’t sit well with everyone (in her own words) now shines like a freshly polished medal. Maybe not in the showcase of the Cuban National Athletics Commission, but certainly on this year’s European rankings list.

While many Cuban athletes are forced to sell their medals to survive, Yipsi — shrewder than most — turned her passport into income and bought herself a second chance.

Of course, this stings for those who still believe that homeland and merit are eternal synonyms. But the world has changed. And so has sports.

Today, Albania smiles thanks to Moreno’s hammer. And Cuba, once again, loses. Because it didn’t just lose an athlete — it lost a symbol now throwing from a different podium.

If anyone feels betrayed, maybe they should ask: who betrayed whom first? And yes, Yipsi changed her flag, but her talent remains untouched. I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes more headlines in the months to come.

First published in Spanish by El Toque and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.

Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.