Omara Durand: for the love of the people

This is a race that goes on for a longer time than the three distances where she has won medals in multiple events. It is the race for the love of her grateful people, the one that admires her simplicity and acknowledges her courage.
Omara Durand, together with her 15 teammates, is spending her last days in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the last stretch of her preparation before travelling tomorrow to Tokyo, where the 2020 Paralympic Games will kick off on August 24 in Tokyo.
Like in previous instances, she answered to our questions before travelling to compete abroad under the name of Cuba.
“I feel very well physically, looking forward to the day of the competition. I’m training to run in the 100m, 200m and 400m events, and to try to match my appearance in Rio 2016, win the three medals in the T12 category, for athletes with visual impairment.”
“To the people of Cuba, I would like to say that I have been training hard to go to the Paralympic Games in my best sport shape and that I am going to give my all on the field. I send them a greeting and a strong hug, and I thank them for following Cuba’s Paralympic movement."
She also thanked the Cuban people, when in the World Championship of Dubai 2019, she injured her left leg and once she recovered, she came first ina poll of the International Paralympic Committee to choose the mots outstanding moment of the decade.
We also spoke briefly with her guide YuniolKindelán to ask about the possible difficulties in the coordination during the race.
“Coordination is not an issue for us anymore, we have mastered it very well. We make more emphasis on our start which is the most difficult for us. In order to overcome any problem, we devote two to four hours of our training, and I stay later making exercises to bear the load."
“Our strongest rivals are a Brazilian, a Spaniard and a Ukrainian, but our main rival is time, any rival is strong and can surprise you at any time, that is why we give our all to the daily training on the track to get the best results.”
Translatedby ESTI