Orlando Ortega Alejo

Cuban sprinter naturalized as Spanish, Orlando Ortega, has made history by winning the bronze medal in the 110 meters hurdles at the European Championship in Berlin.

Spanish-naturalized Cuban athlete who specializes in the 110 meters hurdles. He was Olympic silver medalist at Rio 2016 and is the current Spanish record holder in 110 meters hurdles (13.04) and 60 meters hurdles indoors (7.48), although his personal bests are, respectively, 12.94 and 7.45, both achieved as a Cuban athlete.

He was born in Cuba on July 29, 1991, in a family of athletes; his paternal grandfather, also named Orlando Ortega, played for Cuba's national football team and his paternal grandmother, Cristina Hechavarría, was champion in the 4 × 100 at the 1967 Pan American Games.

He began practicing athletics trained by his own grandmother and later by Santiago Antúnez. Competing for his native country, he obtained the bronze medal at the 2011 Pan American Games and sixth place at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

In the summer of 2013, before the Moscow World Championships, the Cuban federation sanctioned him for refusing to compete in a test in the Russian capital. Although they withdrew the sanction before six months had passed and in time for him to participate in the World Championships, Ortega did not advance past the first round because he had barely trained, so he decided not to return to Cuba.

After the 2013 Moscow World Championships, he decided to become Spanish and compete for Spain, trained by his own father.

According to IAAF rules, Ortega had to go three years without participating in international competitions. However, he continued running in meets. In 2015, still as a Cuban, he achieved a time of 12.94 at the Paris Meeting; this remains his personal best as of 2019.

After obtaining Spanish nationality in September 2015, in July 2016 he broke the Spanish record with a time of 13.04 that remains in effect as of 2019. A month later he was able to compete for the first time with the Spanish athletics team at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, where he won silver behind Jamaican Omar McLeod. And in September he achieved his first victory in the Diamond League.

In 2017 he reached the final in both the 60 meters hurdles at the indoor European Championships and the 110 meters hurdles at the outdoor World Championships, although he failed to reach the podium in either competition. After a modest 2017, in which injuries prevented him from reaching his best form, he was unable to shine at the London World Championships. He had to settle for seventh place, but he warned that Berlin would be his date. And it is clear that he has kept his promise. In 2018, on the other hand, he did win another medal: bronze at the European Championship held in Berlin.

In 2019 he had a brilliant indoor season, with the world's best mark of the year; however, he could not get past fourth place at the indoor European Championship. This fact made him consider retirement or, at least, a major change in his career. Finally, he opted for the latter; Ortega, who until then had trained in Valencia under his own father's orders, moved to Cyprus to join the group of the indoor European champion, Milan Trajkovic, with Antonis Giannoulakis as coach.

After this change he had another great outdoor season, winning the Diamond League and arriving at the Doha World Championships as the world's number one ranked athlete. However, after winning his heat and semifinal, in the final he was obstructed by Omar McLeod and could only finish fifth.

After several appeals, the IAAF appeals jury granted him the bronze medal, thus awarding him two bronzes in the event. For this success, the RFEA selected him as Spain's best athlete of the year.

At the 2020 Spanish Indoor Athletics Championship, he became the first male athlete to achieve a double as Spanish champion in 60m flat and 60m hurdles.