Omara leads the 100-meter heats with 11.70 seconds

Havana, September 2 (RHC)-- The fastest woman on the planet in the T12 category (profoundly visually impaired), Omara Durand Elías, crossed the finish line with authority to qualify today for the semifinals of the hectometer at the XVI Paralympic Games.

Owner of the world quota and under the three agitos in this distance, with 11.40 seconds since Rio de Janeiro 2016, the Santiago native debuted with an 11.70 unreachable for the others registered in the event.

"We did the race as we had planned, to guarantee the qualification," she said in the interview area together with her guide Yuniol Kindelán.

Those words explained the clear advantage taken over Venezuela's Greilyz Greim Villarroel Hernandez (12.57) and Spain's Alba Garcia (12.85).

"Tomorrow (Thursday) is the day. We hope to maintain this pace in the semifinal and final, and then concentrate on the 200 meters, with which we will close the performance here," Kindelán added.

The indomitable athlete should have no setbacks to win her seventh gold medal in these competitions, and the second in this edition. She won the 400 meters just two days ago.

The second best time of the qualifying heats was the Ukrainian Oksana Boturchhuk, with 12:04 seconds, a woman who has a career best of 11.96, according to the statistics system of the event.

"With the strength and technique her runner has, she will be a champion in Paris 2024 as well," English journalist Jim MacGregor, who has attended seven Paralympic Games, told JIT.

"I have been following her since 2015, when she recorded the fastest 100m time at the Toronto Parapan American Games in Canada," he noted.