Cuba enters the final of the women's 4x400 in Tokyo 2020

The Villa ClaraLisneidy Veitía This Thursday, with a spectacular finish to the race, Cuba qualified for the greatfinal of the women's 4x400 of theTokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which will be held this Saturday in the Japanese capital.

With just 20 meters left to go, the Cuban won and managed to enter second, with a time of 3:24.04 and only behind Poland, which achieved a time of 3:23.10, and ahead of Belgium and Germany, which also advanced. at the end.

In addition to Veitía, the Cuban quartet included Rose Mary Almanza, Sahily Diago and Zurián Hechavarría.

In the other semifinal race, the United States won the race, with a time of 3:20.86, followed by Jamaica, Great Britain and the Netherlands.

In May, the Cuban women's 4x400 meter relay team qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a time of 3:28.41 after winninggold medal at the World Relay Championships.

With the large absences of the US and Jamaican teams in that event, the Cubans Zurian Hechavarría, Rose Mary Almanza, Lisneidy Veitía and Roxana Gómez won the first Cuban medal in the five editions of the world relay championships after winning the Polish city of Silesia, where whereThe dream of playing in an Olympic final began, which this Saturday will be a reality.

The Cuban athletes Lisneidy Veitía and Sahily Diago, two of the athletes who this Thursday put Cuba in the 4x400 final were readmitted in February 2020 by sports authorities Cuban to represent the island again, after several years competing for Italy and Guatemala, respectively.

Last year, Ariel Sainz, vice president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER), declared that the reinstatement of both athletes had been approved after a request submitted by the Cuban athletics federation.

Veitía, a 27-year-old from Villa Clara, was the Central American 400-meter dash champion in 2014; while Sahily Diago, a 25-year-old from Matanzas, took second place in the U20 World Cup and in the Rome Diamond League in the 800 meters, also in 2014.

Latin Press indicated last year that both athletes "did away from Cuban athletics" after participating in theRio de Janeiro Olympic Games, in 2016, although he did not specify the circumstances in which they left the national team.

In Brazil, neither team managed to qualify for the 4x400 final, after failing to enter the first two positions in their respective qualifying rounds, nor qualify by time.

The growing abandonment of Cuban athletes and the poor performance in various disciplines has forced the island's government to allow the return of high-performance athletes.

In addition to the women's 4x400 that Cuba will compete on Saturday, this Friday the Cuban Roxana Gómez will run in the 400m final for women.

Cuba remains in 13th place in the medal table by nations, with 13 medals in total: of them 6 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze.