# Leonel Suárez

Leonel Suárez Fajardo (born September 1, 1987) is a decathlete from Cuba. He was a bronze medalist in the event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics and a silver medalist at the 2009 World Championships. He won a third consecutive global medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, taking bronze.
He was born in Santiago de Cuba. His personal best for the decathlon is 8654 points (which set in Havana, winning the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships).

## Career

Suárez was fourth at the 2007 Pan American Games. In 2008, he was also fourth at Hypo-Meeting (setting a national record of 8366 pts) and finished as runner-up in the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge that year. He scored a gold medal at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics.
He competed at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, but only managed seventh place. In the outdoor season, he was runner-up at the 2010 Multistars meeting in Desenzano del Garda, finishing with 8112 points behind American Jake Arnold. He was third at the Hypo-Meeting at the end of May, but he reached the top of the podium at the Décastar competition in Talence with a total of 8328 points.
At the 2011 Hypo Meeting he threw a meeting record of 75.49 m in the javelin, although his final score of 8440 points for second place was some distance behind the winner Trey Hardee. After a modest start at the 2011 TNT - Fortuna Meeting, he began the second day in ninth place but he pulled himself back into contention and, helped by a pole vault best of 5.00 m, he took the men's title with a total of 8231 points. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in August, Suárez won the bronze medal in decathlon with a final points tally of 8501. Although he had not won all of is outings, his consistent high scores over the three meetings earned him the IAAF Combined Events Challenge title that year.

## Personal best

* Decathlon: 8654 pts – Havana, 4 July 2009

## International competitions

| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
| Representing Cuba ||||||
| 2005 | ALBA Games | Havana, Cuba | 4th | Decathlon | 7048 pts |
| 2007 | NACAC Combined Events Championships | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | 2nd | Decathlon | 7843 pts |
| 2007 | Pan American Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 4th | Decathlon | 7936 pts |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, PR China | 3rd | Decathlon | 8527 pts NR |
| 2009 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | Havana, Cuba | 1st | Decathlon | 8654 pts NR AR |
| 2009 | World Championships | Berlin, Germany | 2nd | Decathlon | 8640 pts |
| 2010 | World Indoor Championships | Doha, Qatar | 7th | Heptathlon | 5764 pts |
| 2011 | World Championships | Daegu, South Korea | 3rd | Decathlon | 8501 pts |
| 2011 | Pan American Games | Guadalajara, Mexico | 1st | Decathlon | 8374 pts |
| 2012 | Olympic Games | London, United Kingdom | 3rd | Decathlon | 8523 pts |
| 2013 | World Championships | Moscow, Russia | 10th | Decathlon | 8317 pts |
| 2015 | Pan American Combined Events Cup | Ottawa, Canada | — | Decathlon | DNF |
| 2015 | Pan American Games | Toronto, Canada | – | Decathlon | DNF |
| 2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 6th | Decathlon | 8460 pts |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | – | Decathlon | DNF |
| 2018 | Central American and Caribbean Games | Barranquilla, Colombia | 1st | Decathlon | 8026 pts |
| 2019 | Pan American Games | Lima, Peru | 5th | Decathlon | 7799 pts |