Maria COLON

After winning javelin gold at the 1976 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships, María Colón was on the Cuban national team from 1978-90. The high point of Colón’s career came at the 1980 Olympics, where she won a surprising gold medal. Before the Olympics, the clear favorite was East German Ruth Fuchs, who had been world-ranked #1 every year from 1972-79 and was Olympic champion in 1972 and 1976. But Fuchs was never in contention, barely qualifying for the final three rounds, and eventually finishing eighth. This left the field open and Colón won gold with 68.40, produced in the first round of the final.

After her Olympic triumph, Colón finished only eighth at the inaugural World Championships, held in 1983 in Helsinki and was denied a chance to defend her Olympic title due to the Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Olympics. Instead Colón competed at the Friendship Games, a replacement games held by the Soviet Union and other Socialist countries that had boycotted the 1984 Olympics, where she won a bronze medal. She missed her second Olympics due to another boycott in 1988. Colón won the Pan American Games in 1979 and 1983, taking silver in 1987. She won golds at the 1978, 1982 and 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games, while taking silver at the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games and golds at the 1983 and 1986 Ibero-American Championships. Colón also won silver at the 1985 Central American and Caribbean Championships and bronzes at the 1985 Universiade and 1979 World Cup.