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Alberto
Juantorena
Alberto Juantorena, a Cuban runner in the 400m and 800m events, was one of the most important athletes in the world during the 1970s. Those who  watched his efforts in the 1976 Montreal Olympics especially, still speak of his huge stride and the acceleration of his pace, which were typical of the way he ran. Until that particular organization he was one of the few athletes who tried to win and eventually won a gold medal in both the 400m and the 800m in the Olympics.
Juantorena was born in Santiago de Cuba in December 1950. He grew fond of sport from a very early age. Originally he took up basketball. At the age of 19 he began training as a runner. By a very small margin he did not qualify for the 1972 Munich Olympics. A year later, he won the 400m event in the University Games held in Moscow, but things got hard for Juantorena in the future. He was injured on the feet and underwent two operations in order to recover completely. His persistence contributed to intensify his preparation before the Games of Canada, so that he could stand a chance to attain the goal he had set before his injury. It was a goal that few athletes in the world had tried to accomplish until then: to compete in two of the most arduous events of the Olympic programme, the 400m and the 800m. He became first Olympic winner in the 800m, a relatively new contest for him, performing an extraordinary race and setting a world record. In the 400m final, although he started with a slow pace, he accelerated gradually and eventually won the race quite comfortably.
The Cuban champion participated four years later in the Olympic Games of Moscow, but weakened as he was, due to many injuries, he could not get any distinction and finished fourth in the 400m race.
In his country he was honoured like no other Cuban athlete and even became minister of Sport. He was also a member of the Olympic Committee of Cuba and of the IAAF.
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