Rose Mary Almanza

San Salvador, July 6 (PL) - A recent physical ailment was not an obstacle to stand in the way of Cuban runner Rose Mary Almanza, who won her third Central American and Caribbean Games title in San Salvador-2023.

"For me it is something very big, it had cost me a lot to recover from a knee discomfort", said the athlete to Prensa Latina after stopping the clocks in 2:01.75 minutes in the 800 meters.

With that time in the Jorge "El Mágico" González Stadium of this capital, Almanza left her compatriot Sahily Diago in silver (2:02.81), while the bronze metal belonged to Shafiqua Maloney, from St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In declarations to other reporters from her country, the triple Central Caribbean champion also mentioned that she had had a very hard season due to the aforementioned ailment; "but we are preparing for this competition and to reach the title again", she explained.

According to Almanza, she is very grateful for the support offered by many people, especially her family, boyfriend, friends and coach, Nelson Gutiérrez, who is also Cuban and lives in Ecuador.

In addition, she said she was very happy to have this performance together with her compatriot Diago.

The title of San Salvador 2023 is the third one achieved by the middle-distance runner in a row, after winning gold medals in Veracruz 2014 and Barranquilla 2018.