LONDON ON THE HORIZON
• Omar Cisneros: Intent on cutting his 47.99 time

Harold Iglesias Manresa

No one can deny that 2011 was a tremendous year for Cuban track and field athletes: Yarelis Barrios (for the second time) and Dayron Robles won Diamond League championships, pole vaulters Lázaro Borges and Yarisley Silva emerged on the elite level, while javelin thrower Guillermo Martínez, Yipsi Moreno with the hammer and triple jumper Alexis Copello continued to demonstrate their success. In a fitting culmination, the Cuban team came away from the Guadalajara Pan American Games with 18 continental titles, many establishing new records

Omar Cisneros, the 22-year-old hurdler from Camagüey, was able to bounce back in Guadalajara from his ‘mediocre’ performance in Daegu with a solid time of 47.99 seconds in the 400-meter race. He now confidently asserts that winning an Olympic medal in London means lowering his time to between

47.40 and 47.60.

I ran my first hurdles race at 15, but I’ve been running practically since I was born in Nuevitas. I inherited it. My father, Omar Cisneros, has been my greatest supporter in the sport; he got me started when I was 11. My credentials? I was the fastest in the neighborhood.

When I was in the school division, I ran the regular 400 meters and when I became a cadet I competed in both events. I was recruited to the national team in 2006 and in the ’07 Rio de Janeiro Pan Americans, at 17, I ran that distance and the 4X400 relay race. Since I’ve been at the Pan American Stadium [team training site in Havana], I’ve been under the tutelage of Ricardo Molina Chiu. With him, I’ve been perfecting my technique in the 400-meter hurdles and made it to the ’09 Berlin World Championship, where I was a semi-finalist at 49.21 seconds.

My strength is in the final 200 meters. I think that my asthma condition as a child helped me. Technically I would describe myself as an even hurdles racer. I approach the first hurdle in 20-21 steps, then I jump at 13 until the seventh and from then on, I use 14. Although I’ve improved in establishing a rhythm during the race, I still feel I could manage my effort better and that this would translate into better results. Certain irregularities in my training, and lack of knowledge about my opponents at the elite level, caught up with me in the Daegu World Championship, where I was left behind and ended up in the 15th spot as a semifinalist, with a mediocre time of 50.10.

You’re right. Psychologically, it was a test of fire. The year started out well, I was training strongly with prospects internationally and the support of the IAAF. [Cisneros was awarded a scholarship by the International Athletics Federation as a result of his success and youth]. So I was ready for the summer tour, planning to run three or four races, but once we were in Europe, they told us to come back. The whole month of July I was training here in Havana by myself, against the clock, without knowing anything about my opponents. You know about the rest, in Daegu, I ran strong in the first 200 meters during the semi-final, but I was short on power in the last stretch.

In Guadalajara everything flowed much better. I was there a month beforehand, adapting to the altitude and had a trial run in TELMEX stadium – 45.23 around the track and 48.63 in the 400-meter hurdles. I knew then that I could break the national record of 48.21 seconds, though getting below 48 was a welcome surprise. My opponents? They don’t frighten me, I feel confident, I’ve started training, still feeling the glow from Guadalajara. There are four or five very good runners with similar times. The most consistent among them is Puerto Rican Javier Culson. Additionally there’s South African L. J. Van Zyl and from the U.S. Bershawn Jackson and Angelo Taylor, but I’ll tell you, there could be five more. The level of performance at the top is very even. In any event, I’ve started the turbines and I’m not stopping until I have an Olympic medal. We’re going to Matanzas shortly to conduct a bio-mechanical study in order to optimize my resources during a race and I have three training sessions at the IAFF Center scheduled before London.

I enjoy my daughter Dayanira; she’s a year and a half old. I live with her close by here in Alamar. Music and movies help me relax and focus and, during evening training, thinking about the next day’s session.