Havana, April 11 (RHC) - Sprinters Shainer Reginfo and Reynaldo Espinosa gave the highest marks in the first day of the Rafael Fortún in Memoriam National Championship of Sprint Athletics, held in Camagüey, which marked the reappearance on the track of Olympic 400m finalist Roxana Gómez.
22 years old and bronze medalist at the World Youth Championships in Nairobi-2021, Reginfo won the 100m with a good time of 10.14 sec, the third of her career and very close to her personal best of 10.11 set in 2022 in Sagundo, Spain.
Espinosa, a year younger, followed him at the finish line with 10.17, which improved his personal best (10.26), achieved last year during the Alba Games in Caracas, Venezuela.
Completing the podium with 10.38 was the experienced Yaniel Carrero, another member of the Pan American short relay runner-up in Santiago de Chile, who will seek the Olympic ticket next month at the World Relay Championship in Bahamas.
Olympic finalist in the 400m and world champion with the 4x400 relay in Silesia-2021, Roxana Gómez, easily dominated the lap around the oval, in her first official race after an injury that kept her away from the track for a few months.
Roxana, the only one qualified by Cuba so far for an event on the Paris 2024 track, covered the distance in 52.74 sec, distant from her best result (49.71 in 2021), although in the range of what was planned for this stage of her preparation.
"It is the first competition, his preparation is focused on the longer term with the Olympic Games as a reference of the planned work," commented to the digital newspaper Jit the national commissioner of athletics, Rolando Charroo.
He commented that the absence in the 400 final of Lisneydis Veitia, another world champion with the 4x400 relay, was due to a discomfort in her right leg.
"After the semifinal, in which she clocked 55.14 seconds, she felt a slight discomfort in her right leg and we made the decision that she should not force her participation in another race. This Thursday she will be evaluated again by the doctors and we will be able to give more details of a situation that does not seem to be complicated", added the director.
The silver and bronze medals in the lap of the oval for women were won by young Melissa Padrón (53.85) and Camila Rodríguez (54.42).
The data provided by the statistician Alfredo Sanchez refer that in the men's section the victory went to Pierre Castillo, with a time of 47.97 sec.
The surprise of the day came in the women's 100 meters, where Jocelyn Echazabal clocked 11.35 to improve her personal best and beat the continental and regional champion in the 4x100 relay, Yarima García (11.65).
Another who stole the limelight from a top-ranked athlete was the young Lisyanet Ruiz, winner of the 100m hurdles with her best time of 13.45 seconds, in front of the favorite and Pan American runner-up in Santiago-2023, Greisys Roble (13.59).
In the 110 meters hurdles (height of 0.99 centimeters), Yander Herrera, only 17 years old, dominated with a time of 13.77 seconds, a good time for his category, the U20.
