Olympic Games
Gold 1976 Montreal 400 metres
Gold 1976 Montreal
800 metres
Pan American Games
Silver 1975 Mexico City 400 metres
Silver 1975 Mexico City
4x400 metres
Silver
1979 San Juan 400 metres
Silver 1979 San Juan 800 metres
Bronze 1979 San Juan 4x400 metres
IAAF World Cup
Gold
1977 Düsseldorf 400 metres
Gold 1977 Düsseldorf 800 metres
Bronze 1977 Düsseldorf
4 x 400 metres
Central American and Caribbean Games
Gold
1974 Santo Domingo 400 metres
Gold 1978
Medellín 400 metres
Gold 1978 Medellín 800 metres
Gold
1982 Havana 800 metres
Central American and Caribbean Championships
Gold
1973 Maracaibo 400 metres
Gold
1981 Santo Domingo 800 metres
Silver 1977
Ponce 400 metres
Summer Universiade
Gold 1973
Moscow 400 metres
Gold 1977
Sofia 800 metres
Friendship Games
Gold
1984 Moscow 800 metres
Born in
Santiago de Cuba, as a 6 foot 2 inch 14 year old,
Juantorena was first considered a potential star at basketball and was sent to a state basketball school.[1] A taleneted athlete at many sports, he had been regional high-school champion at 800 and
1500 m,[2] but his true talent at athletcs was discovered by a
Polish track coach,
Zygmunt Zabierzowski, who convinced him to start running seriously. Juantorena was ready for the change because as he states himself he was a 'bad' basketball player and his idol when young was an athlete, the Cuban sprinter
Enrique Figuerola.[3] Only a year later, Juantorena was eliminated in the semi-finals of the
400 m event at the
Munich Olympics (
1972).
Juantorena became better known in the next years, winning a gold medal at the
World University Games (1973) and a silver at the
1975 Pan American Games, both in the 400 m. He was unbeaten in 1973 and 1974, but underwent two operations on his foot in 1975.[1] He only seriously took up running the
800 m in 1976, so few thought he was a candidate for the
Olympic gold that year. His coach, Zabierzowski, had initially tricked him in to trying an 800 race by convincing him the other runners need a pacemaker.[4] However, Juantorena made it to the Olympic final, and led the field for most of the race, eventually winning in a world record time of 1:43
.50.[5] He was the first non-English speaking athlete to win Olympic gold in this event.
Three days later, he also won the 400 m final, setting a low-altitude world record of 44.26.[6] By winning the 400 m, he became the first athlete since
Paul Pilgrim at the
1906 Intercalated Games to do such a double at an
Olympic sports event, and was the first to do so at an officially recognised
Olympics.[1][7]
In 1977, he set another world record in the 800, running 1:43
.44 in Sofia at the World University Games.[8] He also won both the 400 m and 800 m at the 1977
IAAF Athletics World Cup in
Dusseldorf, Germany.[9]
The 400 m race was mired in controversy when the race was re-run a day after the initial race, in which Junatorena finished third, because Junatorena lodged a successful protest that his slow start had been due to not being able to hear the starter's gun.[10] The latter race featured an epic duel with his great rival
Kenya's
Mike Boit, a duel that did not happen at the previous year's Olympics because of the
African countries boycott.
Juantorena, now known at home as
El Caballo (the horse), continued his career, although injuries meant he would never reach the same level as in Montreal. Juantorena had been born with flat feet that caused feet and back problesms, and he had to have corrective surgey in 1977.[11] In 1978 he was unbeaten at the 400 m, but suffered his first ever deafeat at 800 m.[11] Injuries, particularly hamstring injuries, hampered his training and racing leading up to the
1980 Moscow Olympics, where he just missed out on a medal in the 400 m placing fourth. At the
1983 World Championships, his last international appearance in a major event, he broke his foot and tore ligaments when he stepped on the inside of the track after qualifying in the first round of the 800 m.[12] As Juantorena was being carried off the track on a stretcher most viewers must have thought that was the end, but Juantorena returned to training with a view to competing in the
1984 Los Angeles Olympics. However, when
Cuba joined the boycott of those Olympics his last chance of international glory was ended.[13]
After retirement from athletics in 1984, Juantorena has served in many official capacities, including as the
Vice President of the
National Institute for
Sports,
Physical Education and
Recreation for Cuba,[1]
Vice Minister for Sport of Cuba, and Vice-President, later
Senior Vice-President of the
Cuban Olympic Committee.
- published: 21 May 2012
- views: 9618