The Cuban swimmer Andrea Becali said goodbye this Sunday to her dream of an Olympic medal after being eliminated from the semifinals in the 200-meter freestyle.
The 20-year-old competed in lane eight in the fourth and final qualifying heat, where she had to face several experienced swimmers, including the Australian Ariarne Titmus, the current world record holder and gold medalist at Tokyo 2020.
Andrea recorded a time of 2:03.38 minutes, placing her in last position, being the only one who did not go under two minutes. She was also far from the 2:00.70 that she holds as her personal best.
The race was won by the Canadian M.S. Harvey (1:56:21), followed by Titmus (1:56.23). The swimmers with the 16 fastest times advanced to the semifinals.
Born in Havana, Becali arrived at her first Olympic Games with a track record that included two bronze medals in the 2023 Central American Games in the 100 and 200 meters.
She was also a two-time individual finalist at the Pan American Games. This year, at the World Swimming Championships in Doha, Qatar, she achieved a time of 2:21:54 in the backstroke event, which placed her in 28th position.
Now the only hopes of Cuba in swimming rest on Rodolfo Falcón Jr.
According to the specialized magazine Jit, both are in Paris thanks to the invitation by universality from World Aquatics, due to their records (Andrea's 02:00.70 and Falcón's 15:49.72 in the 1,500 meters), which validated 817 and 771 points according to the time table in relation to the world record for the event in question.
The World Aquatics regulations establish that they must not exceed 30 years of age and must not have participated in two previous Olympic Games without achieving the required A standard set by that federation.
What do you think?
SEE COMMENTS (1)Filed under:
