Former athlete Alberto Juantorena suffers from a neurodegenerative disease: “There has been no progression.”

The former athlete Alberto Juantorena suffers from a neurodegenerative disease, but his health condition shows “no progression.”

“Several people have recently asked me if there has been any new information regarding the health status of the legendary Cuban athlete Alberto Juantorena Danger, and after inquiring about it, what I received from fairly close sources is that there has been no progression,” reported journalist Yasel Porto.

Porto assured that the double Olympic champion, 75 years old, "has not stopped fighting for his life, even though the illness affecting him is degenerative."

"It is very unlikely that Juantorena will be seen again at public events, and the few photographs that have emerged show the very delicate condition he is in. In fact, I received a fairly recent photo that I prefer not to publish due to the striking nature of the Santiago native's appearance," he stated.

The journalist stated that "any illness that directly affects a person's neurological system is extremely complex, and high recovery is rarely, if ever, achieved."

Deteriorated health

In December 2024, a photo exclusively obtained by CubaNet confirmed the significant physical deterioration of the distinguished Cuban athlete.

In the image in question, the former athlete appeared extremely thin and was sitting in a wheelchair.

Previously, in April of that year, the aforementioned independent media had already shared another photo of Juantorena.

In that case, Juantorena was seen sitting in a wheelchair next to Roberto Vargas Lee, director of the Cuban School of Wushu.

“The two-time Olympic champion Alberto Juantorena has not regained his health; he still requires a wheelchair even to move around his home and continues to experience speech abnormalities," the cited outlet revealed based on testimony from sources close to the national athletics community.

"It remains complicated," summarized a former official, who requested anonymity and recently visited him at his home.

Since November 2023, Cubanet had indicated that Juantorena's health had deteriorated.

It was specifically reported that he was using a wheelchair and had difficulties speaking.

In August 2022, Juantorena was reported to be in critical condition at the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine in Havana, suffering from dengue and post-Covid-19 syndrome.

According to Cubanet, her last public appearance was in March 2023 at a meeting with the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, at the Panamerican Stadium in Havana. On that occasion, she appeared to be in good health and apparently.

In August 2023, Juantorena was appointed Honorary Member of the World Athletics (WA) Council and also received the Gold Merit Order, the highest distinction awarded by the governing body of world athletics.

The two-time Olympic champion from Montreal '76 presided over the Cuban Federation and held one of the vice presidencies of INDER for nearly three decades. He was also a member of the World Athletics Council (formerly IAAF) from 1987 until this year, serving as its vice president from 2015 to 2019.