Irene Martínez Tartabull (28 October 1946 – April 2014) was a Cuban track and field athlete who competed in the long jump and the short sprints.

[1] Her first international selection came at the age of fifteen and she managed fourth place in the long jump at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games.

[1] She rose to prominence the following year – at the 1963 Pan American Games in São Paulo she took fifth in the long jump and helped set a Cuban record in the 4 × 100 metres relay of 46.44 seconds alongside Romay, Cobián and Nereida Borges.

(The title would remain in Cuban hands for all but one edition over the next 25 years, courtesy of wins by Marcia Garbey, Eloína Echevarría and Niurka Montalvo.

)[4] The 21-year-old won the third major international relay medal of her career, taking the silver with the Cuban women behind a Jamaican team led by 200 metres champion Una Morris.

[citation needed] Martínez had a very patriotic approach to the competition and held up her performance as a tribute to her country – her greatest memory of the period was of Fidel Castro signing her two medals.

Martínez's performance made her the first ever Cuban athlete – male or female – to win a Pan American gold medal in a jumping discipline.

The selectors requested that she be part of the team as an alternate for the 4 × 100 metres relay, but she refused due to her damaged pride of not being selected individually – a decision she regretted later in life.