Omara Durand "ready as always" for the World Para-Athletics Championship in Japan

May 15, 2024

The multi-champion Omara Durand, the leading figure of Cuban para-athletics and one of the most recognized in the entire world, is "ready as always" for the upcoming World Championship in the Japanese city of Kobe.

The stellar runner, world record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 meters flat of the T12 category, is already in Japan along with her guide, Yuniol Kindelán, to compete in the world event that begins on May 17.

Omara is part of the island's contingent in Japanese territory, alongside fellow sprinter Raciel González, and is "doing well, ready as always," according to her coach, the experienced Miriam Ferrer.

Ferrer confirmed to Jit that her pupil will seek to repeat her titles in Kobe in the three distances in which she usually competes, thus adding to her collection of 14 world crowns.

This, explained the coach, despite the ailments she has experienced in recent months, which forced her to delay her competitive debut in the current season, a year that has the Paris Paralympic Games as its main event.

Because of those ailments, Omara was unable to participate in the Grand Prix events in Xalapa and Marrakech, where the rest of Cuba's main figures were present, led by fellow world record holder Robiel Yanquiel Sol Cervantes.

Nevertheless, "she has sufficient athletic mastery to compete without warm-up competition at the World Championships and achieve good results," Ferrer said.

"We preferred to readjust the training and not force anything by competing beforehand," she added.

Omara Durand, along with her guide, is already qualified for Paris 2024, so she will seek to test her strength in Kobe and get into shape for the Paralympic event that should close her successful career on the track.

Robiel Yanquiel, in the long jump of the T47 category, and javelin thrower Uliser Aguilera (F13) also have their tickets secured for the French capital.

Nevertheless, Cuba hopes to have a large contingent at the Games, so the performances of the island's athletes at the World Championship could be decisive for their positions in the Paralympic qualification ranking.

Furthermore, if anyone among those already qualified were to win the title in Kobe, they would also secure their direct passage to Paris.

At the Marrakech Grand Prix, the last tournament in which Cuban para-athletes competed before the World Championships, the island's team won 18 medals, including seven gold.