They say, he was almost born on the track: His mother, Cuban sprinter Amarailis Francis, suffered from a heavy abdominal pain during her daily practice, and was immediately transferred to a hospital in her hometown Santiago de Cuba.

[citation needed] Later, he moved to Ciego de Ávila, the hometown of his father, Cuban boxer Álvaro Betanzos, and started his sports career following in his father's footsteps as a boxer.

After about a year, he changed to athletics, firstly competing as a high jumper.

[citation needed] As he was not tall enough, his coaches proposed to change to triple jump.

As of 21 June 2013, this result places him sixth on the all-time Cuban performers list, behind Yoelbi Quesada, Lázaro Betancourt, Aliecer Urrutia, Pedro Pichardo, and Alexis Copello.