Pedroso was born in Havana, Cuba. In July 1990, aged just 17, Pedroso jumped more than eight meters for the first time. Facing tough competition from Carl Lewis, Mike Powell and others, he still won numerous gold medals in international competitions in the early nineties. He almost never finished in less than first place. When Powell and Lewis retired, Pedroso became a dominant athlete, winning numerous indoor and outdoor World Championships. In fact he won all major championships from 1997 to 2001, including an Olympic gold medal in Sydney.
At altitude in Sestriere in 1995, Iván Pedroso jumped 8.96 meters with a measured wind of +1.2. This would have been the world record, beating Mike Powell by one centimeter. However, the Italian Athletics Federation did not forward the result to the IAAF for ratification, since the wind mark was declared invalid, because a person stood in front of the anemometer, probably intercepting the correct wind measurement.[5]
Despite his great success in the World Championships, due to injuries, he did not make a great impact on the Olympic Games like former rival Carl Lewis. He did finish fourth at the age of 19 in Barcelona 1992, but in Atlanta 1996 he had injury troubles and could only finish 12th in the long jump final. In the 2000 Olympics (Sydney), Pedroso spectacularly won the gold medal with his last jump. In a tough contest at the 2004 Olympics, he finished 7th. Pedroso has not entered in any major championships since, although he still had several jumps over 8 metres.
On 26 September 2007, Pedroso announced his retirement.
His best jump was officially 8.71 meters, in Salamanca 1995.[6]
