Three years ago, on September 2, 2021, my grandmother Milagros died. We never lost faith that she would recover, but the damage from COVID-19 was irreversible. When my mother called to tell me, I had to tell my grandfather Enrique; one of the hardest moments of my life. I remember he asked me not to cry, to be strong so that he could be strong. Days of silence followed, of a chilling emptiness…
However, amid sadness, my grandfather had very brief moments of peace. They were flashes, literally seconds, that took Omara Durand devouring meters on the track of the Japan National Stadium, venue of track athletics at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
In the dark early morning hours in Mantilla, Omara was a small ray of light that entered through the window of my grandfather’s lonely room, where shortly before the races he would put a chair to sit with a cup of hot milk and the hope that the sure victories of the Santiago de Cuba native would drown his sorrows.
Shortly after the Tokyo Games ended, I had the privilege of talking at length with Omara and Yuniol Kindelán, her guide and companion in her athletic adventures. After discovering a lot of anecdotes from their careers, I told them about my grandmother’s death and the peace my grandfather found with each of their strides. They were amazed…
“It’s the kind of stories that motivate us to continue, to strive, to train to give people at least a bit of happiness, a satisfaction,” they told me excitedly. Months later, in a Cuban Television documentary about Omara and Yuniol’s performance at the Paralympic Games, it was they who remembered my grandparents’ story as one of the most inspiring moments of their career.
Today, Omara and Yuniol continue to be two great idols of my grandfather, a passionate sports fan with as many referents as years lived. And if they are on a pedestal, it is not because they have told their story on television, but because of the story, they have been writing on the tracks around the world for more than a decade.
Not long ago, digging through archives, I found that Omara Durand, from 2011 to 2023, participated in 45 races and only finished first in two of them: the qualifying heats of the 200 and 400 meters of the 2019 Dubai World Championships, where she ended up winning both events in the final. That dominance is simply overwhelming and the best thing is that it does not have an end in sight.
At the Paris 2024 Games, Omara has once again kept Cuba awake at night, watching in the middle of the night one of the best Paralympic runners in history. In Saint-Denis, she imposed her law on the return to the oval, with a firm and devilish step and exquisite synchronization alongside Yuniol Kindelán, the hallmarks of two runners who advance along the track as one body.
They had not run for some time due to various physical ailments, but in 24 hours they triumphed in three 400-meter races, lowering their times (in the final they did 53.59 seconds) and without showing a lack of competitive training. “Very happy with my ninth gold medal in the Paralympic Games, I am enjoying it very much. What we have done is with tremendous effort, with heart, and thanks to that the result came out,” Durand pointed out to the press accredited at the Paris event, where she has had countless spotlights on her.
“We went out to get gold, we went out to win, to put on a show for the people who follow us, for all the people who admire us a lot. We feel the positive energy from the crowd and that also encourages us to have a good race,” added Kindelán, who has been with Omara in 7 of her 9 Paralympic crowns.
Their performance in Paris has put on alert their opponents, who may now concentrate only on fighting for silver and bronze. “All the athletes who run with me are encouraged to face me; they run behind me to improve their times. That makes me grow. For me all the rivals are good, I respect them all and the last word is on the track,” said Omara about her opponents in the T-12 category (visually impaired).
After her first triumph in the French capital, Durand is not going to stop. She still has the 100- and 200-metre tests ahead, pure speed events in which she has always shown her best form, running with her heart: “The work we have to do is exhausting, but we are ready for all these races. Now we have 24 hours to recover, we are not worried, we feel strong, we have six races left and we are going to win all six races.”
