Five records and a regional record at the Canarias Athletics Invitational

A record-breaking edition of the III Canarias Athletics Invitational. The Tenerife Athletics Center hosted all the excitement of the sport yesterday for the third consecutive year. Not even the injury-related withdrawals of some of the stars confirmed by the organizers dampened the excitement or the high level of competition at an event that saw five records broken; one of them was the Canary Islands record in the long jump, where Héctor Delgado put on a spectacular performance to the cheers of the crowd. His outstanding performance was complemented by meet records set by Emma Nwofor (12.96) in the 100-meter hurdles; Ronal Longa (10.20) in the 100-meter dash; Jaime Guerra (8.05) in the long jump; and Davisleydi Velazco (14.64) in the triple jump.

Beyond the results on the athletic and competitive front, the Canarias Athletics Invitational once again gave the youngest fans the chance to meet their idols—the athletes never stopped signing autographs and giving away their race bibs. Furthermore, and just as importantly, local athletes were able to test their skills against internationally renowned athletes without leaving the Canary Islands.

The meet kicked off with the women’s 100-meter hurdles. After a closely contested start, a hurdle fall in the middle lanes caused Aasia Laurencin to lose the lead to times faster than the previous championship record—three athletes posted times faster than Destiny Huven’s (2025) 13.05. The new championship record was set by Britain’s Emma Nwofor (12.96), while second and third place went to Gabbi Cunningham (USA) and Elena Carraro (ITA).

At the same time, the women’s javelin throw took place, featuring a breakout performance by France’s Alizée Minard (59.72), who came close to the record (60.63). Gedly Tugi (58.54) and Magali Jiménez (58.42) rounded out the podium.

A record was broken in the men’s 100-meter dash, where Colombia’s Ronal Longa clocked a commendable 10.20 against the Dutch duo of Taymir Burnet (10.30) and Elvis Afrifa (10.34).

The excitement was centered on several events, one of which was, inevitably, the long jump. On his very first attempt—the first of five jumps he made—Spain’s Jaime Guerra set the bar so high that he broke the meet record (7.98), previously held by Poland’s Piotr Tarkowski; in fact, Tarkowski’s jump was the second-best mark (7.92). Erwan Konate finished third (7.90). Also noteworthy in this round was the performance of Héctor Delgado, who set the Canary Islands record with his 7.68; the Tenerife Cajacanarias athlete shone brightly in front of his home crowd.

Next up were the 800-meter middle-distance runners. There was no record set, but it was a thrilling race. Switzerland’s Veronica Vancardo ran like clockwork around the track for two laps, finishing in 2:03.52. Spain’s Marta Mitjans (2:03.90) and Lorea Ibarzabal (2:04.42) took the next two spots.

The discus throw was about to begin, with all eyes on the showdown between Matt Denny (Australia) and Lukas Weisshaidinger (Austria); after all, it’s not every day you witness a clash of this caliber inside the throwing circle. The Australian Olympian needed only his second throw to set a mark of 67.41. Meanwhile, the Austrian discus thrower had five fouls and was unable to improve on his first attempt (65.96). It wasn’t Yasiel Sotero’s afternoon, as he fell just short of the 60-meter mark (59.85).

At the same time, all eyes were on the women’s triple jump. Here, too, a championship record was set by Davisleydi Velazco (14.64). The Cuban athlete made three consecutive jumps that surpassed Janne Nielsen’s previous record (set in 2025 at 14.13). Behind her were Romania’s Diana Ana Maria (13.84) and Janne Nielsen herself (13.70).

While the heats were underway, the 400-meter hurdles event took center stage. David Delgado once again emerged as one of the crowd’s favorites. And he didn’t disappoint: “El Flaco” flew—or, as he wrote on his backpack, “flyer.” The Tenerife Cajacanarias athlete overcame the headwind on the final hurdles, changed his rhythm, but that didn’t stop him from taking first place with a time of 49.87. James Smith II (50.12) and Onyekachukwu Okoh (50.44) finished behind him. In the women’s race, Belgium’s Paulien Couckuyt (55.63) won, easily beating Viktoriya Tkachuk (55.69) and Spain’s Carla García (56.69), who came close to finishing second.

After the hurdles came the excitement of the 200-meter dash. Cuba’s Reynier Mena (20.71) and Finland’s Nora Lindahl (23.03) made their mark on the track in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Finally, the 1,500-meter race, in which the lead changed hands until the penultimate lap, at which point Elian Numa López had to drop out due to a physical problem. In the end, Turkey’s Mehmet Celik took first place (3:43.59), ahead of Ibrahim Erata (3:45.37).

Meanwhile, in the youth categories, competition was fierce starting with the U8s, who kicked off the event on CIAT’s spectacular track. From there, the U-10, U-12, and U-14 age groups took over. Virtually all of the Canary Islands’ clubs were on the track to compete in the 300- and 500-meter races, depending on their age group.

It should be noted that the event was organized by the Canary Islands Athletics Federation and World Athletics, with technical endorsement from European Athletics and sponsorship from the Tenerife Island Council, through its Sports Department; the Government of the Canary Islands, under the “Islas Iguales” initiative; and the Sports Department of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council. The event also received support from the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation, Viajes Insular, Binter, Usquam Sport Wear, and the Barceló Hotel Group.