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Who is Yasmani Copello?
Yasmani Copello Escobar, 35, is a Cuban-born professional track and field hurdler for Turkey. Yasmani Copello changed his nationality due to a lack of opportunities in his home country. Furthermore, changing his nationality was beneficial in both his professional and personal life.
He met the love of his life, Elif Koc, after moving to Turkey.
They later married in 2017, and she has always been a huge supporter of his professional career.
Similarly, he is a two-time Olympian who won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Copello’s personal best in the 400m hurdles is 47.81 seconds, which he set at the European Athletics Championships in 2018.
Personal and Professional Development
Yasmani Copello was born in Cuba on April 15, 1987.
While competing in international tournaments, he wears the Turkish flag on his chest.
Copello began competing in track and field after his mother pushed him to do so.
Private Life
His new abode in Turkey also allows him to pursue his love life.
Yasmani met his future wife, Elif Koc while studying Spanish.
Furthermore, they were introduced via mutual friends.
Their friendship evolved into a partnership and, eventually, marriage.
In 2017, the couple married in Turkey.
They did, however, organize a little wedding party near Copello’s birthplace.
Copello’s wife is a track coach, and she plays an important role in his successful career by assisting and supporting him throughout training and tournaments.
She was also a volley player in the past.
Training
Copello has a well-developed physique in general.
He works out for 7 hours a day to keep his ripped, muscular, athletic body.
He likes to conduct outdoor workouts in the morning and indoor workouts in the afternoon.
Furthermore, he does his track and field training outside, while doing weights and abs training indoors.
Furthermore, despite his education Copello is concerned about his recuperation as well.
He always gets 8 hours of sleep per day.
Similarly, he follows each training session with recovery activities like as massage and ice baths.
Hobbies
Copello is a great video game aficionado.
He enjoys playing video games on his PlayStation or computer in his spare time.
Similarly, in addition to athletics, he enjoys watching and playing basketball and football.
He can also dunk a basketball, which is unusual.
Professional Career of Yasmani Copello
Cuba
Copello began participating in national events as a teenager in 2006.
He finished fourth in the Cuban Athletics Championship and sixth at the OlimpiadaCubana.
Later, in 2007, he finished second to Cuban athlete Omar Cisneros in his first international tournament, the 2007 ALBA Games.
Furthermore, he finished the race in 49.99 seconds, a new personal best for him.
He also took part in a 4400 m relay, when he helped Ciba win gold.
Similarly, he won another relay medal for Cuba in the 2008 Ibero-American Championship.
He also competed in 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championship, finishing second against Jamaican Isa Phillips.
Despite being chosen to the Cuba relay team’s provisional squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics, he did not compete.
However, he matched his past finishes the following year at the 2009 ALBA Game.
He finished second in the 400m hurdles and first in the relay.
However, he has a chance to finish on the podium in the Central American and Caribbean Championship.
Later the same year, he finished second at Cuba’s Barrientos Memorial and won the Olimpiada Cubana.
His victory in the 2011 Copa Cuba meets represented his final victory in his home country before moving to Turkey the following year.
He joined Fenerbahce Athletics after moving to Turkey in 2012, winning the national championship in his first year.
Copello later achieved a new personal best and Cuban record in the 400m hurdles in 2013.
Val de Reuil finished the Meeting in 49.54 seconds.
In addition, his indoor 400m time was faster than his outdoor time at the time, which is an exceptional record.
Changing Nationality
Copello’s drive and ambition led him to train under the new private coach after his coach removed him from the Cuba national team.
Later, his continued success at Fenerbahce drew the attention of Turkish track and field national team managers.
As a result, in October 2013, he chose Turkish nationality.
Later, in April 2014, he was given the opportunity to represent Turkey at international events.
Olympics
Yasmani Copello made his Olympic debut in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
He qualified for the next round with a time of 49.52 seconds and improved to 48.61 seconds in the semi-finals.
Later, in the finals, he finished third with a timing of 47.92 seconds.
Furthermore, it was Turkey’s first medal in the track and field category.
He did not finish on the podium at the recent 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Copello, on the other hand, reached his second consecutive finals.
He qualified for the finals with times of 49 seconds and 47.88 seconds.
Copello finished sixth in the main event with a season-best time of 47.81 seconds.
Other International Happenings
Copello earned his first gold medal representing Turkey in the 2016 European Championships.
He won the 400m hurdles finals in 48.98 seconds.
He finished second in the IAFF World Athletics Championship in London the following year in 48.49 seconds.
Copello finished second in the 2018 Berlin European Championship as well.
He also completed with a personal best timing of 47.64 seconds.
He later advanced to the finals of the 2019 IAFF World Athletics Championship.
However, he fell short of the podium, finishing sixth.
Earnings and Sponsor Earnings
Yasmani Copello won $15,000 in 2017 after finishing second in the IAFF World Athletics Championship.
Similarly, he did not finish on the podium at the 2015 IAFF World Championship in Beijing, but he did receive $3,000.
In addition, he has won two Diamond League meetings in Oslo and Birmingham, earning a total of $20,000.
He also took second place in the 2021 Stockholm meeting, earning 6,000.
Copello has also finished third twice, earning him a total of $7,000 in prize money.
However, the cash prize he received after winning a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics has yet to be revealed.
Sponsors
Yasmani Copello currently plays for ENKA Sports Club, but unlike other sports, the athletics team does not reveal their salary.
As a result, his salary is still being reviewed because it has not been published anywhere.
He is also represented by Rosa E Associati.
He began his career in Turkey in 2012, playing for Fenerebache Athletics.
Copello is sponsored by Nike.
During national and international competitions, he always wears Nike gear and shoes.
Likewise, he also has been involved in various advertising campaigns for Nike in his nation.
Similarly, Yasmani Copello is among a few Nike athletes who are part of their Nike Vision project.
Moreover, he is one of the first athletes to wear their wings sunglasses designed by VSP Global.
Copello is one of the ambassadors of Gloria Sports Arena.
It’s also a place where he does all of his indoor and outdoor training.
Recovery is an essential part of any sport.
He has a sponsorship deal with Wintecare; he is still fit to race even at the late stage of his career due to proper recovery facilities.
Furthermore, he also has to deal with SC nutrition which provides him with nutrition and supplements for his recovery.
Lastly, he is sponsored by Performtexusa.
He uses their tapes during running training and at races.
The exact figure of his net worth is still unknown.
However, as per various online sources, Copello estimated net worth is between $500k to $1 million.
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Social Media Presence
Yasmani Copello is active on social media platforms.
He regularly updates posts on his social media handles.
However, considering his fame and status, he has fewer followers than expected.
Altogether he has a combined 16k followers on 3 handles.
Moreover, he is more active on Instagram than on other handles.
He likes to upload photos and videos of his training and competitions.
In addition, Copello regularly posts how and what workouts and routines he does for his training to improve and maintain his fitness.
He is also public about his relationship status. One can find many photos of him and her wife on his social media.
Lastly, Copello regularly advertises the brands and companies that sponsored him on his social media.
