# Omara Durand Takes Over as President of the Cuban Paralympic Committee

**Date:** 05/10/2026

Cuban Paralympic multi-champion Omara Durand Elías was elected president of the Cuban Paralympic Committee (CPC) on May 9, 2026 in Havana, at a General Assembly held at the Centro de Negocios de Miramar, with delegates from across the country connected by videoconference.


The Assembly also honored legendary double Olympic champion Alberto Juantorena with the title of lifelong honorary president, succeeding him as the organization's leader.


Durand expressed gratitude for the confidence placed in her and described the role as "enormous and unprecedented." The head of INDER, Osvaldo Vento Montiller, called her "the best example of the values of Cuban youth, with more than enough merit to carry out the task."


The new Executive Committee is made up of Omara Durand as president, Gerdan Fonseca Bernal as vice-president, and Jorge Reynaldo Palma Montalvo as secretary general.


The Assembly approved the 2021–2025 management report and the organization's new bylaws. Key achievements during the period included performances at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Chile and the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.


Objectives through 2028 include promoting gender equity policies and strengthening sports classifications. The Cuban Paralympic movement is now looking ahead to the Pan American Youth Games for the Deaf in Guayaquil and the Paracentral American Games in Puebla, both in 2026, as well as the Lima 2027 Parapan American Games and the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.


Omara Durand, born on November 26, 1991, in Santiago de Cuba, is Cuba's most decorated Paralympic athlete, with eleven Paralympic gold medals, 14 world medals, and 13 Parapan American medals throughout her career in adapted athletics.