World Athletics sends award given to iconic Cuban sports personality

 HAVANA, Cuba, May 7 (ACN) Maria Caridad Colon, vice president of the Cuban Athletics Federation(FCA by its Spanish acronym) , received in Bahamas the Gold Order of Merit that World Athletics (WA) decided a year ago to award to two-time Olympic champion Alberto Juantorena, for his merits on athletics tand his leadership in the development of this world sport.

The golden necklace that certifies the Elegant of the Tracks as deserving of the highest distinction of the organization was given to the first Olympic champion from Latin America by its head, the British Sebastian Coe, within the framework of the World Athletics Relay Championships Bahamas 2024, which concluded on Sunday in that nation.

According to the sports publication Jit, also present at the moving moment were the US multi-Olympic and world champion Carl Lewis, and the Puerto Rican Victor Lopez, for many years head of the Caribbean Athletics Confederation (Nacac).

It is an honor for me to be the bearer of this important recognition and also for Cuban athletics the fact that WA recognizes in this way the dedication and work of Alberto. For many years he was the leader of our sport", Maria Caridad commented.

The decision to present Juantorena with the prestigious award was taken by WA at the close of its most recent congress, prior to the celebration of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest 2023.

On that occasion, the members of that body also approved the election of the FCA president -absent at the time due to health problems- as Honorary Member of the WA World Council.

When officially presenting the award, Coe asked to convey the feeling of gratitude to the protagonist of the so far unequalled feat of winning the 400 and 800 meters events at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.

Juantorena served for 28 years as one of the vice presidents of Cuban Sport Institution. At the international level, he was a member of the WA World Council from 1987 until last year, and served with recognized success as vice president of the organization between 2015 and 2019.

He currently holds the position of vice president of the Cuban Olympic Committee (COC) and heads the Cuban Paralympic Committee.