With the best throw of his life, javelin thrower Guillermo Varona touched Paralympic glory and gave Cuba its third gold medal in the competitive events of this Tuesday in Paris 2024, following the titles won by the stars Robiel Yankiel Sol and Omara Durand.
The Camagüeyano Varona, in the F46 category, threw the javelin up to 66.14 meters at the Stade de France, significantly improving his fourth place finish (63.30) at the Tokyo 2020 multisport event.
The mark set a continental record in a very close contest with the Indians Ajeet Singh (65.62) and Gunjar Sundar (64.96), who took silver and bronze, respectively, while the Mexican Gabriel Buenaventura (61.65) finished in fourth place.
The date turned out spectacular for the Caribbean delegation, as just a few hours earlier Sol and Durand reaffirmed their titles in the long jump and the 400 meters flat, in that order.
Yankiel won the gold medal with a jump of 7.41 in the final of the T47 category, surpassing the Chinese Wang Hao (7.32), who took silver, and the Russian Nikita Kotukov (7.05), who won bronze.
The jumper finished a competitive cycle that included victories at the World Championships in Paris 2023 and Kobe 2024, as well as at the Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile, last season.
Alongside his coach Yunior Kindelán, Durand (T12) stopped the clocks at 53.59 seconds, allowing him to finish ahead of the Iranian Hajar Safarzadeh Ghahderijani (55.39) and the Ukrainian Oksana Boturchuk (55.67).
"I am very happy to win this gold. I am enjoying it a lot. I achieved my best time of the season, but I came here to get a medal. I wasn't worried about any specific time. I am a fulfilled athlete and I feel very happy about everything I have achieved in my sports career," she said to the accredited press.
"I hang my medals in different places. Some are at my mother's house, others in my house, and some I keep somewhere because there are many. This one will be in my living room," he confessed.
Omara Durand, who will retire at the end of the competition, will seek the golden triple in the 100 and 200 meters at these Paralympic Games, something she has already achieved at both Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
After these results, Cuba is in 23rd place in the overall medal table, with a total of three titles and one second position, according to the official event page.
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