AREQUIPA, Peru – “We won’t be racing anymore, but we’re leaving happy and satisfied,” said 32-year-old Cuban sprinter Omara Durand after receiving her gold medal at the Stade de France, where she crossed the finish line in the 200-meter event in 23.62 seconds.
According to the official agency Latin Pressthe 200-meter champion in the T12 category, made her retirement from the track official this Saturday, after a career with 11 Paralympic titles, three of them won in Paris 2024.
Along with her guide Yuniol Kindelán, Durand said she felt very excited and nostalgic as she recalled her brilliant career.
“They are tears of joy and also of nostalgia, because it is what we have done all our lives: run,” he said. the athlete Born in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, she also won the crown in the 100 and 400 meters at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
Durand, who has also won 14 gold medals at the World Championships and 12 at the Parapan American Games, said she would embark on new paths, in which she expressed confidence that she would be equally successful.
“We started out as the best and ended up being the best,” said Kindelán, who expressed satisfaction with the Cuban duo’s career.
Omara Durand’s 11th Paralympic gold medal brought Cuba to 23rd place in the medal table, with six titles, three silvers and one bronze, in a summer event that will end this Sunday.
This Saturday, judoka Sheyla Hernández won a silver medal in the J2 judo final in the over 70 kilograms category.
Hernández fell in the final to Brazilian Rebeca de Souza, after two victories by ipoon against Australian Taylor Gosens in the quarterfinals and Chinese Hongyu Wang in the semifinals.
The island’s delegation traveled to Paris with 21 athletes, 13 men and eight women who competed in eight sports: athletics (9), taekwondo (3), shooting (3), swimming (2), judo, weights, table tennis and archery, 1.
