• Submitted by: lena campos
• Sports
• 08 / 24 / 2013

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The Cuban track and field federation says hurdler Orlando Ortega has not returned to the country after competing in the world championships in Russia last week.

The federation said in a statement Wednesday that Ortega "abandoned" the Cuban delegation that competed in Moscow.

The 22-year-old Ortega did not make it past the first qualifying race in the 110 hurdles in Russia, finishing sixth in his heat with a time of 13.69 seconds.

Considered one of Cuba's best hurdlers since Dayron Robles, Ortega was sixth at the 2012 London Olympics and had the third-best time of the season heading into Moscow.

Ortega ran in the worlds after the Cuban federation dismissed a six-month discipline ban handed to him for refusing to compete in an event in Moscow in June.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/21/3577044/cuban-hurdler-abandons-tea...