Omara Durand;5 Facts You Must Know

Omara Durand Elías ( Santiago de Cuba , 26 of November of 1991 ) is a Cuban disabled athletes category T 13 (visual weak). Specialist in 100 , 200 and 400 meters , she is a Parapan American, Paralympic champion and world record holders.

In 2018, she was elected deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba.

Summary

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• 1 Biographical synthesis
  • 1 Sports career
    • 1.1 2007-2008
    • 1.2 2011-2012
    • 1.3 2013-2016
    • 1.4 2017-2020
  • 2 Sports results
  • 3 Awards and recognitions
  • 4 References

Biographical synthesis

Since she was little, she leaned towards the practice of athletics in elementary school and later in the ESPA ( Provincial School of Athletic Improvement ).

Graduated in Physical Culture, she entered the national preselection in 2007.

Sports race

2007-2008

In 2007, at just 15 years old, he participated in the World Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired, held in Sao Paulo , Brazil, where he won the titles in 100 and 200 meters. That year, she would also be titled the Parapan American champion in Rio de Janeiro .

At just 16 years old, she was the favorite to win the Beijing Paralympic, but suffered a myofibrillary tear in her right thigh that led to debts in training and a far-from-optimal arrival at the venue. To make matters worse, running the 400 in the Bird’s Nest, she suffered a muscle strain that psychologically disrupted her and vetoed her from climbing the awards podium.

2011-2012

On January 26, 2011 he achieved the gold medal in the 200 meters in the T-13 category of the World Athletics Championships for the blind, visually impaired and physically-impaired in Christchurch , New Zealand , with a time of 24.24 seconds to break the universal record of 24.45, set by American Marla Runyan in 1995; She also broke the mark for the joust of 25.56 seconds, achieved by the Russian Olga Tchourkina in 1994. The silver medal went to the Moroccan Sanae Benhama , with a time of 25.35 seconds, and the bronze to the South African Ilse Hayes , with a time of 25.54 . ^[one]

That same year, she broke the world record in the 100-meter dash category T-13 during the athletics competitions of the [[IV Parapan American Games Guadalajara 2011, when she stopped the clocks at 11.99 seconds, becoming the first woman in her category to break the 12-second barrier. The previous primacy of the world was held by the American Marla Runyan , 12.28 seconds, imposed on January 1 , 1996 in Irvine , United States . In the final, she widely defeated her rivals, leaving Brazilians Viviane Soares (13.05), a young girl of only 16 years old, with silver and bronze, and her compatriot Joana Helena Silva (13.28). ^[two]

His Paralympic revenge came on September 3, 2012 when he won the gold medal in the 400 meters T-13 (visually impaired) at the [[London 2012 Paralympic Games XIV London 2012 Paralympic Games, with a time of 55.12 seconds, a record Paralympic, the Santiago was crowned despite being located to start from an unfavorable eight lane on the track of the Olympic Stadium in London . ^[3] Three days later, on September 6, he won his second gold medal with a time of 12 seconds in the 100 meters dash, category T13 (visually impaired), and was only one hundredth behind his world record, achieved in the IV Games Parapan American Games of Guadalajara 2011. ^[4]

2013-2016

On August 10, 2015 he obtained the gold medal in the 100 meters, category T12 with a time of 11.86 seconds, setting a world record at the V Parapan American Games in Toronto , Canada . ^[5] On August 12, he won his second gold medal, the 400m T12 with a time of 56.96 seconds. ^[6] On August 14, on his fifth consecutive day of competition, and despite a slight ailment in his left thigh, Durand stepped up 50 meters from the finish line to set a historic record of 23.67, which set a new record and his third title. in this contest. ^[7] [8]

Completely out of the league, October 23 obtains gold medal, imposing record with a time of 53.05 seconds in the 400 meters category T 12 at the World Athletics Championships for disabled in Doha , Qatar ^[9] On October 25 is agency his second gold medal in this event, with a new world record of 23.03 seconds in the 200 meters, category T 12 (weak deep vision), lowering the mark set the previous day in qualifying rounds of 23.38 in the seconds, in the Suhhaim Bin Hamad stadium. ^[10] The Oct. 28In the same scenario, he obtains his third gold medal and fourth world record in the 100 m T12 (deep visual weaknesses) with a time of 11.48 seconds, better than his previous lead of the world of 11.65, achieved last August at the V Parapan American Games of Toronto 2015 , Canada , integrating the list of multi-medalists who have shone the most on the Suhaim Bin Hamad stadium track. ^[eleven]

In the Paralympic Games that took place in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil in September 2016, he won a gold medal and set a world record with a time of 11.40 seconds at the Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium in a 100 m T12 (deep visual impairment) test preceded by leads for games in the knockout rounds and semi-finals, confirming herself as the fastest disabled woman in the world by improving the 11.48 that gave her the title in Qatari capital. ^[12] On September 12, again with a Paralympic record of 23.05 seconds, the Cuban sprinter won the gold medal in the 200-meter category T12 (deep visual impairments), her second title in athletics at the Rio 2016 event.^[13] On September 17, he won the final of the 400 meters with a world record, setting a time of 51.77 ^[14]

2017-2020

On July 19, he won his first gold medal at the World Paratletics Championships in London , Great Britain , by winning the 100-meter T12 category (deep vision weaknesses). Before she had signed the 200 and 400 meter dash, but without receiving prizes due to the low number of entries. The Cuban made 11.52 seconds in the last test on Tuesday at the Olympic Stadium in Queen Elizabeth Park. ^[fifteen]

As part of his preparation for the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games, he took part in the Paratletics Grand Prix in Bydgoszcz , Poland . In that contest he won the 100 and 200 meters and made the qualifying marks necessary to be in Lima ^[16]

He was part of the team that represented Cuba at the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games , in which he achieved a gold medal in the 200 meters of the T12 category (deep vision weaknesses) with a time of 23.67 seconds ^[17] . Two days later he prevailed in the 100 meters of that category with 11.76 seconds, his best time of the season ^[18] , and finally closed with his third title, running the 400 meters T12 (deep visual weaknesses) in 52.51 seconds, again Parapan American record and quite close to the 51.77 that constitutes the world primacy since the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016. ^[19] , ^[20] .

On November 9 of this year he won the gold medal in the 400 meters T12 (deep visual weakness) of the World Paratletics Championships held in Dubai , United Arab Emirates , where he turned the oval in 52.85 seconds to enter ahead of the Ukrainian Oksana Boturchuk (56.02), and Venezuelan Greilyz Villarroel (58.66), silver and bronze respectively ^[21] . Two days later, she won the 100 meters with a time of 11.66 seconds, the best mark of the year by dropping by 10 hundredths that of the VI Parapan American Games Lima 2019 , leaving the Spanish Adiaratou Iglesias in second place with 11.99 seconds^[22] . The next day he reached gold again in the 200 meters category T12 (deep visual weaknesses), with 23.57 seconds, his best mark of the year, in an event that saw him equally unattainable in the other two distances, for which he achieved again the golden trilogy at the world paraathletics championships. Antillean remains unbeaten on 100, 200 and 400 meters from the edition of Christchurch , New Zealand , in 2011 , andalready accumulated 11 gold medals in these conflicts ^[23] .

Sports results

Awards and honours

– 2011  : Special Mention in the survey sponsored by INDER and the specialized press on sports for the disabled in 2011 ^[24]

– 2012: Chosen in the annual survey carried out jointly by the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation and the Círculo de Cronistas de Deportivos of the Union of Journalists of Cuba as the best female athlete of the year in sports for the disabled. ^[25]

– 2014: Chosen among the 10 most outstanding athletes of 2014 in Cuba. ^[26]

– 2015: She was selected by the specialized press and INDER as the best sports athlete for the disabled in Cuba in 2015 ^[27]

– 2015 – Seven of the 50 best moments of sport in 2015 were chosen in the place of those recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC for acronym in English) ^[28]

– 2016: Among athletes with disabilities, he won the award of the best absolute athlete of the year 2016 and the most popular, according to the survey conducted by mobile phones by the Desoft Company. ^[29]

– 2016: Nominated for the second year in a row from a list of six athletes from the Paralympic movement to be chosen as the best athlete of the year at the Laureus Awards. ^[30]

– 2017: On April 11 , 2017, he received from Dr.C. Antonio Becali , president of INDER, and from his vice-president Roberto León Richards , the Juan Antonio Samaranch award from the International Olympic Committee awarded to athletes with disabilities by the United States Sports Academy ^[31]

– 2017: On September 6, 2017, she received the award as the best female athlete at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016 during the gala on the occasion of the 18th General Assembly of the world body of sport for people with disabilities. ^[32]

– 2017: Selected in the traditional vote of INDER and the specialized press as the best female athlete of sports for the disabled of the year 2017 in Cuba. ^[33]

– 2017: Selected as the best among the visually impaired of Santiago de Cuba in 2017 ^[34]

– 2018: In 2018 she was selected to represent Cuba at the Peoples’ Summit , to be held in Lima , Peru . ^[35]

– 2018: Chosen as the best female athlete in Cuba in sports for the disabled, in 2018 ^[36] .

– 2019: Chosen by the votes collected by INDER and the UPEC Sports Journalists Circle , as the best disabled athlete of the year 2019 in Cuba, with 219 out of 220 votes counted ^[37] .

– 2020: Nominated for Laureus Awards for the year 2020