Dayli Cooper Completes Golden Double, Ties Ana Fidelia Quirot's Regional 800m Record

August 24, 2026

Cuban middle-distance runner Dayli Cooper won the women's 800 meters at the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo on August 7, 2026, clocking 1:59.00 at the Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez. The time matched the Games record held by Cuban athletics legend Ana Fidelia Quirot, the 1991 and 1993 world champion in the event.

The win completed the "golden double" Cooper had promised two days earlier, after taking gold in the 1500 meters with a new Games record of 4:07.46. With both titles, the 24-year-old from Camagüey cemented her status as the standout middle-distance runner of the regional Games.

Speaking to Prensa Latina after the race, Cooper said the absence of a rival of comparable level in the final kept her from approaching the times she has posted in European meets this year, and credited much of her performance to her training partner, who paced her during the race. She added that she views Quirot's record not as a ceiling, but as motivation to keep improving.

Cooper arrives at these Games as one of Cuba's standout athletes of the season: in June she won Pan American titles in both the 800m and 1500m in Medellín, Colombia, setting a personal best of 1:56.10 in the shorter distance. Her next stated goal is the World Athletics Championships, for which she has been preparing since the start of the year.