Alberto Juantorena Danger

Cuban athlete. Known as The Elegant One of the Tracks, specialist in athletics in 400 and 800 meters; Olympic champion in both disciplines at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. He subsequently continued to achieve Olympic, world, Pan American and Central American successes. He has been the only Cuban athlete in history to achieve double championship in the same Olympics. Currently he is Vice President of INDER, president of the Cuban Federation of Athletics and member of the International Olympic Committee.

He was born in Santiago de Cuba and since childhood he enjoyed sports. Yolanda Danger, the champion's mother, recounted that Alberto was always running, even to do errands.

He had a height close to 1.90 meters, good jumping ability and quickness in movements and was enrolled in the Provincial School of Athletic Development (ESPA) in the 1970-1971 school year, then located in the Vista Alegre neighborhood.

He began his sports practice in basketball and in 1970 participated in the senior tournament as a reinforcement for the Eastern region basketball team, under the direction of the experienced Rafael Carbonell, but saw little action in a roster that included the well-known Inocente Cuesta, Alejandro Urgellés, Tomás Herrera and Juan Domecq.

He did not advance in basketball despite the efforts of coach Mario Soler, but José Salazar (Cheo), a runners' trainer, requested his transfer to athletics, convinced of having at hand a talent for the track. The task of giving final approval fell to Polish specialist Zigmunt Zabierzowski, in charge of the national team's runners; this occurred on March 8, 1971 on the track of "Pedro Marrero" Stadium, where after going around the oval once, Zigmunt stopped the stopwatch at 500 meters with a time of 1:07.0. It was enough to certify Juantorena's change of discipline.

Juantorena's constant dedication, combined with the wise teachings and sound advice of Zabierzowski, soon revealed outstanding records in the 400 meters. After participating in the traditional athletics tour in the 1972 campaign, he earned the trainer's confidence and was included in the small group of 16 field and track competitors who attended the Munich Olympic Games. There he finished in fourth place in the semifinals (46.07).

His first major triumph in the international arena took place on August 18, 1973, when he crossed the finish line first in the 400 meters (45.4) at the World University Games held in Moscow. This was recognized when he received two precious distinctions: Best Athlete of the Year in Cuba and Best Athlete of the Year in Latin America.

He became the first man in all of history in the Canadian city of Montreal in 1976 to achieve victory in both the 400 and 800 meter races, very different competitions, since the first is a speed event and the second is a middle-distance event.

He did not compete in the 800 many times, since he was a specialist in the shorter event, and for the second he was trained in secret (which he himself did not know) by Polish coach Zigmud Zabierzowsky, who explained to him that performances at that distance were part of training. In the two laps around the track that year he competed on nine occasions, in which he always finished first, obtaining three national records.

The Olympic double, in Montreal in 1976, was repeated later at the World Athletics Championships in Dusseldorf in 1977, also amid a curiosity: one of the tests had to be repeated because at the moment of the starting gun an airplane passed over the stadium and prevented him from hearing it.

In 1976 and 1977 the International Association of Sports Press (AIPS) recognized the Cuban as the best athlete in the world, including all disciplines.

In 1977, he dominated the world rankings in 400 and 800 meters, and won both events at the World Championships in Düsseldorf. On August 21 of that same year he achieved in Sofia to improve his own world record of 800 meters with a mark of 1:43.44.

The last international competition in which he participated was the World Championships in Helsinki in 1983, where after passing the first round of the 800 meters, he suffered an injury to a foot and could not continue competing; he later retired from active sports and assumed other sporting duties.

Upon retiring from active sports, he has held different positions related to sports in Cuba.

Currently he is Vice President of INDER and president of the Cuban Federation of Athletics. He is also a member of the International Olympic Committee and the IAAF. In June 2012 the IAAF determined that Juantorena would be part of the association's Hall of Fame.