Olympic 400m finalist Roxana Gómez continued to show her progress in the winter tour of Europe, finishing second in the Dortmund meeting in Germany, improving once again the Cuban national record.

Havana, February 12 (RHC)-- Olympic 400m finalist Roxana Gómez continued to show her progress in the winter tour of Europe, finishing second in the Dortmund meeting in Germany, improving once again the Cuban national record.

23 years old and considered one of the great talents of Cuban athletics, Roxana clocked 52.60 seconds in the two laps of the track of the German city, only surpassed by the experienced Polish Olympic champion in the 4x400, Justyna Swiely (52.10).

Third with 52.61 finished Cynthia Bolingo (Belgium) and fourth the British Ama Pipi (53.90), winner on Wednesday in Mondeville, France, where Roxana made her debut indoors with 54.37, a record that was also a Cuban record.

With her record this Saturday, the native of the province of Cienfuegos (central-southern Cuba) improved her Mondeville mark by almost two seconds.

In the Tokyo Olympic Games, Roxana gave one of the highest marks of Cuban athletics, advancing to the final of the 400 meters with 49.71 seconds, only 10 hundredths of a second behind the national record set more than three decades ago by the phenomenal Ana Fidelia Quirós.

Also competing in Europe this Saturday were long jumpers Maikel Massó, bronze medalist at Tokyo-2020, and Lester Lescay.

Massó took second place with 7.80 m, in an event won by the Olympic champion, the Greek Tentoglou (8.22). Lescay was sixth with 7.57.

Roxana, Massó and Lescay are part of a group of Cuban athletes currently competing in Europe fine-tuning their sporting form in preparation for the World Indoor Championships, scheduled for March 15-18 in Belgrade.