How many times did you dream of breaking the 800-meter track world record? Ana Fidelia and her husband Riccardo Folle. I should have done that in Atlanta, rather than find a comfortable spot behind my rivals. Take the lead, no one could keep up with me there, run without any fear that things might not work out and give my all until crossing the finishing line. If you got another shot in another life, a different moment, right now, what would you change? That’s what I was thinking: “I lost my Olympic medal,” and I couldn’t wait another four years. It was very sad for me, to think my sporting career was going to end there, for I wouldn’t get another chance to take part in a sporting event of that significance. What was going through your mind when the broad strides of Masterkova got her ahead of you in the final stretch? Your speed and finishing sprint were some of your distinctive skills on the track. I beat her twice after that, but she was better where she had to be. She’d never beat me before, but she did it at that precise minute during the Olympics. What comes to mind when I mention the name of Svetlana Aleksandrovna Masterkova? So many years among the world’s best runners, and having been the best for a while, even, with distinctive traits, and I couldn’t manage to get a gold medal at the Olympics. It’s something I carry with me – and will always carry – in my heart. Though I tried to finish off with that sprint that was my hallmark, I had to content myself with a silver medal, which was better than the bronze in Barcelona.ĭo you still suffer over that moment in the race? Ana Fidelia’s children, Alberto Alejandro, 14, and Carla Fidelia, 15. I tried to overtake them in the last 120 meter stretch, open up a bit and get out to the third track, but I let them get ahead some, I ran more than I had to. The race became slow and the two Russians cut me off. I didn’t do what I had to do in the race, tactically, what my coach and the entire work team had planned for me, including the doctors, psychologists and others. Many people say I underestimated Mutola a bit, but I don’t believe that’s true. When did you feel closer to the Olympic title, in Barcelona 1992 or Atlanta 1996? She is one of the best 800-meter track runners of all time, who even managed to become world champion on several occasions, after enduring grade 3 burns on a large part of her body following an accident at home halfway through her career.Īt her home in Havana’s neighborhood of Playa, OnCuba spoke with Fidelia, an icon, a symbol of perseverance, and one of the most renowned figures in the history of Cuban sports. This woman from Santiago de Cuba, popularly known as the “Storm of the Caribbean,” became an athletics legend near the end of the 1980s, when she showed herself nearly invincible, winning more than 30 consecutive races between 19.īorn in Palma Soriano in 1963, she has a record of achievements that is almost unparalleled, eclipsed only by the absence of an Olympic gold medal. HAVANA TIMES - Ana Fidelia used to run – or, better, fly – around the world’s 800-meter tracks. By Jhonah Diaz Gonzalez (OnCuba) Ana Fidelia Quirot.
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