Cuban 4x100 relay. Violeta Quesada, second from left to right.

Havana, March 25 (PL) - The outstanding Cuban runner Violeta Quesada, silver medalist in the 4x100 relay at the Mexico 1968 Olympic Games, died at the age of 76.

Quesada, born in the central province of Villa Clara, was a member of the historic relay of the Mexican Games under the five rings together with other great Cuban sprinters such as Miguelina Cobián, Marlene Elejalde and Fulgencia Romay.

The president of the National Sports Institute, Osvaldo Vento, expressed his sorrow in his account on the social network X.

"We accompany in their grief the family and friends of Violeta Quesada, member of the 4×100 meter relay that won silver for Cuba in the Mexico 1968 Olympic Games. Also a laureate in other events, her death generates deep sorrow in Cuban sport," she wrote.

In statements to Jit, former Cuban javelinist María Caridad Colón, member of the International Olympic Committee and vice president of the Cuban Athletics Federation, also lamented the runner's passing.

"She was one of the indispensable ones in that generation that opened the path of achievements. Together with her teammates of that relay, she was an example to be followed by all the women who later continued to reap triumphs for our sport," she said about the sprinter.

Quesada's successful career also includes her participation in the team that won the title in the same specialty at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, with a national record and victory over the favorite United States.

A year earlier, he was part of the Cuban delegation to the Central Caribbean multi-sport event held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he was unable to compete due to an injury.

In 2005, due to her outstanding international results on the track, Quesada was exalted to the Hall of Fame of the Central American and Caribbean Confederation of Athletics (Nacac).

The Antillean died victim of a brain accident while she was in the U.S. city of Tampa, where she was visiting.