As if at the start of a relay race toward the future, Cuba showed new hope and talent in the sport with the greatest historical weight in the Paralympic movement: athletics.
On Monday, the track at the Mario Recordón Stadium in Santiago, Chile, rewarded the speed of four Caribbean runners who won one gold, two silver, and one bronze medal.
Daumel Elizalde Dreke from Havana won the 100 meters in the T46 category—competitors with limited mobility in their upper limbs—and his joy was doubled when he looked back and saw his compatriot Jairon Bouza from Villa Clara close behind him, the next to cross the finish line.
"I dedicate this medal to my people, to all of Cuba," the winner told Prensa Latina, while the runner-up thanked those who helped him in training, which is always much more complex when it involves overcoming the challenges of a disability.
In another 100-meter race in the aforementioned medical-functional classification for men, Osbiel Palacios from Pinar del Río climbed to the lowest step of the podium with a time of 12.99 seconds. Due to the lack of official information, we do not know why there were two finals in the same category, but the achievements are equally valid.
Finally, Tairemy Navarro (T11 or totally blind) and her guide, Marcos Antonio Roldán, also from Camagüey, won silver in the 100 meters with a time of 16.54, behind Mexico's Zagia Camacho.
These performances included the Greater Antilles in the medal table of the multi-event competition, officially kicking off the quest to climb to seventh place overall and improve on the performance in Bogotá two years ago by one place.
However, the main objective is to evaluate the sports reserve, so we must now begin to note the names of those who turned their efforts into medals during the Chilean event.
