Paris 2024: Sleep, smiles and ice cream: A day in the life of Omara Durand

Cuba’s Omara Durand introduced herself to the world of Para athletics in 2007 as a teenage sprinter with a precocious talent and left Rio 2007 Parapan Games with gold medals in the women’s 100m, 200m and 400m T13, and a fan club.

One year later, Durand competed at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in the same three events. She finished fourth in the 200m, sixth in the 100m and did not finish the 400m because of injury problems.

It has almost become a quiz question. When was Durand last beaten on the two biggest stages of all?

Eight Paralympic gold medals - two from London 2012 and three each from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 - plus 14 world championships, provide the giveaway clue.

She has not lost a race at that level since Beijing.

The secret to success

With the Paris 2024 Paralympics approaching, the 32-year-old Durand is  hard at work in Havana, commuting daily between her home and the athletics centre in the Cuban capital.

Durand, who has a vision impairment, has a few confessions to make too as she provides an insight to a typical training day. Smiles, a sweet tooth, sleep, and a touch of spice all figure.

“I get up every day between 5:30 and 6 a.m. I usually take naps and at night I try to sleep eight hours,” Durand said. “Now I am in general preparation and my training day starts at 8am.”

That would be the cue for Durand’s team to join her. There is obviously a great rapport there with plenty of joke-cracking and laughter, the athlete says.

Miriam Ferrer Fernandez is her coach and the flamboyant Yuniol Kindelan Vargas is her sighted guide, who competes with her during races. . Physiotherapist Jorge and doctor Eduardo Leon make up the Team Omara.

“I train and live in Havana, but every day I travel from where I live to the training centre,” Durand said. “First I do my warm-up, which is quite a lot because it includes several exercises with certain elastics (resistance bands) and different elements.”

When Durand has finished her programme she joins the speed and jumpers group along with Kindelan.The prevention of injury is paramount to Durand, who has a long recovery sequence concentrating on the muscles.

A Paralympic hat-trick

Her ultimate aim at Paris 2024 is to win gold medals in the three distances - 100m, 200m and 400m - for the third successive Games.

She has achieved the same hat-trick in the last four world championships including Paris 2023 and was hoping to repeat the feat at the Santiago 2023 Parapan Games. Perfection was spoiled by a disqualification in the 400m when she and Kindelan had a mix-up with the tether after crossing the line first.

“2023 was a challenging and fruitful year,” is her understated way of summing up her disappointment in Chile.

Durand, who was only seven when she started playing sport, has congenital cataracts which causes chronic myopia and astigmatism. She started in the T13 classification then moved to T12 after her eyesight deteriorated.

Apart from taking a break following London 2012 when her daughter, Erika, was born, she has never stopped, and it is that sense of single-mindedness which is evident.

But not all the time.

“We make this time that is so exhausting and sacrificial as pleasant as possible by making jokes while still putting seriousness to the work,” she said.

Back at home, Durand admits to a sweet tooth but keeps a close eye on her nutrition.

“I hardly do diets except sometimes if I am overweight. I really like fried chicken, fries and ice cream, but I eat pretty healthy.

“My nutrition is always the same, such as carbs, vegetables, proteins, fruits, etc. I cook with natural spices and I hardly use artificial seasonings.”

Sprinting to perfection

There is a sense of expectancy surrounding Durand. She will be the athlete with the target on her back but, given her long career, there is little that will surprise her.

Her year is mapped out. There is a World Championship in Kobe, Japan, in May and, in the background, there is the hope of world records at the Paralympic Games. Again, she holds all three world records from that magic trio (100/200/400).

At the Doha 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships, Durand broke four world records and a year later, at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, she ran a record 11.4 of seconds in the 100m T12 event. It is not the only legacy that was made in Brazil.

Durand’s 400m world record of 51.77 seconds still stands from Rio while, at Tokyo 2020, she improved her own 200m world record to 23.02 seconds.

With the Paris 2024 Paralympics opening in less than 200 days, she is hoping to repeat her success at the Stade de France. In the meantime, she wants to approach training every day with a smile.