Cuban women advance to 4x400 relay final in Olympic athletics

Tokyo, August 5 (RHC)-- Cuba advanced today to the medal race in the women's 4x400-meter relay by recording its best time of the year in one of the semifinal heats of Tokyo 2020 athletics.

On the track of the Olympic Stadium, the Cuban relay composed of Zurian Hechevarría, Rose Mary Almanza, Sahily Diago and Lisneidy Veitía closed second in heat number one with a time of 3:24.04 minutes, only surpassed by the Polish quartet (3:23.10).

The Cubans floated in the fifth and sixth places during the first three sections of the race and Veitía's finish in the last 200 meters ensured the qualification; in a heat that gave the other place to Belgium, third with a national record of 3:24.08 minutes.

In the semifinal, Germany (3:24.77), France (3:25.07) and Australia (3:30.61) made their best marks in the campaign; while Switzerland, which finished sixth and out of the classification, set a record for the country with 3:25.90 minutes.

The Cubans will return to the track tomorrow, Friday, in the grand final of the long relay together with the relays of the United States (3:20.86), Jamaica (3:21.95) and the United Kingdom (3:23.99), which occupied the first three places in semifinal two.

The decisive heat of the 4x400m relay was completed by the quartets from the Netherlands (3:24.01) and Canada (3:24.05), who crossed the finish line with the two fastest times after the six secured by the direct route in the semifinals; in the case of the Dutch with a national record.