Omara Durand says goodbye with world record in the 200 meters flat at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

September 4, 2021

The unbeatable Omara Durand stopped the clocks at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium by setting a world record for profound visual impairment in the 200-meter dash, to repeat her Rio de Janeiro title, win her third gold medal of this summer competition, and her eighth in the history of her participation in these competitions.

The track was smoking when the woman from Santiago crossed the finish line hand in hand with her guide Yuniol Kindelán 23.02 seconds after the starting gun, a time that not many conventional female athletes on the planet can boast about.

Left behind were Ukrainian Oksana Boturchuk (24.08) and Russian Anna Kulinich (24.85), perhaps cursing the fate that made them coincide in time and space with an athlete of this caliber, but not at all surprised at being unable, once again, to reach the highest step of the podium at an international event.

Omara was only 19 years old when in 2011 she surprised everyone by setting a world record in the 200 meters for the T13 category at the World Championship in Christchurch, New Zealand.

A decade and seven months later, she remains undefeated with an impressive record that includes seven Pan-American titles, 11 world championships and eight Paralympic golds, which have made her a legend of the sports world.

With this grand finale, Cuba's delegation closes its performance in Tokyo with a modest harvest of four gold medals, one silver and one bronze.

With one competitive day remaining to conclude the sixteenth Paralympic Games, Cuba is ranked 32nd on the overall medal count by country.