Durand confirms reign in Paralympic sprint with third gold medal

Cuban Omara Durand confirmed today her reign in the sprint at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, winning the 200 meters, class T-12, her third gold medal in the event.

Durand revalidated the gold medals she won in Rio de Janeiro 2016, winning the 100m, the double hectometer and the 400m in a category for the visually impaired, and extended her Paralympic legend to eight gold medals.

Unbeaten since 2011, the Cuban sprinter won the 200 meters this Saturday with a time of 23.02 seconds, a world record, ahead of Ukraine's Oksana Boturchuk, runner-up (24.48), Russian Olympic Committee representative Anna Kulinich-Sorokina, third (24.85), and Venezuela's Alejandra Paola Perez, fourth (25.27).

Born in the city of Santiago de Cuba in 1991, the Caribbean athlete, accompanied by guide Yuniol Kindelan, broke her own universal premier of 23.03 achieved on October 25, 2015 at the Doha World Championships.

With Durand's performance, Cuba closed its participation in the Japanese competition, where it won four gold, one silver and one bronze, despite having a delegation of 16 athletes.