Ana Fidelia Quirot Moré (; born March 23, 1963) is a former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, who specialised in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

but was also successful over

400 m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

. At 800 metres, she is a two-time

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

(1995, 1997) and a two-time Olympic medallist (1992, 1996). Her best time of 1:54.44 from 1989 still ranks her fifth on the world all-time list. She is regarded as one of the best female 800m runners of all time, and probably the best to not have an Olympic gold medal in the event.

Career

Quirot was born in

Palma Soriano Palma Soriano is a Cuban city and municipality in the Santiago de Cuba Province. With a population of 125,385 in the city proper, it is the second-largest in the province and the 16th-largest in Cuba. History The city was founded in 1825, unitin ...

. In 1983, she won a silver medal in the 400 metres at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

in Caracas, running 51.83. Four years later at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis, she won both the 400m and 800m. In the 400m, she ran 50.27 to defeat Canada's

Jillian Richardson Jillian Cheryl Richardson-Briscoe (born March 10, 1965 in Guayaguayare, Trinidad and Tobago) is a Canadians, Canadian athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. She is a three-time Olympian. In 1988, she equalled Marita Payne's Canadian 400 ...

, while in the 800m she defeated

Delisa Walton-Floyd Delisa Walton-Floyd (born Delisa Walton, 28 July 1961) is a former World-Class middle distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres; she was a two-time NCAA, National Collegiate champion, and two-time U.S. Open champion in her event. Delisa Wa ...

of the US in 1:59.06. Later that year at the 1987 World Championships in Rome, she improved her 800m best 1:55.84, to finish fourth in a high quality final. She ran onto the leader in the final bend to make a bid for winning the race, but ended up tiring and fading to 4th in the home stretch. The race was won by East Germany's Sigrun Wodars in 1:55.32. In 1988 she was favored to win the 800 metres gold medal as she went undefeated in the event that season, including winning meetings with her two main rivals and the Olympic Gold and silver medalists Sigrun Wodars and Christine Wachtel, and favored to win a medal in the 400 metres. However, the Cuban boycott prevented her from competing. She was ranked #1 for the year for 800 metres and #4 for 400 metres. At the

1989 IAAF World Cup The 5th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 8–10, 1989, at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Spain. ...

in Barcelona, Quirot reached her peak at 800 metres. In a race that was fast from the start, thanks to the front running of World and Olympic champion Wodars, Quirot won in 1:54.44, to move to (at the time) third on the world all-time list behind world-record holder

Jarmila Kratochvilova Jarmila is a Slavic names, Slavic origin female given name. Derived from the Slavic peoples, Slavic elements jary ''fierce, strong'' and mil ''favour''. Similar names are Jaromíra and Jaroslava. Nicknames are Jarka, Jarcza, Jara, Jarina, Jaromilka, ...

and 1980 Olympic champion

Nadezhda Olizarenko Nadezhda Fyodorovna Olizarenko (Russian: Надежда Фёдоровна Олизаренко, Ukrainian: Надія Федорівна Олізаренко; née Mushta; 28 November 1953 – 18 February 2017) was a Soviet middle-distance runner ...

. She also won the 400m, after original winner Marie-Jose Perec was disqualified for running out of her lane. In 1990, she again achieved a 400m, 800m double, this time at the

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. She won the 400m in 50.38 and the 800m in 1:57.42, narrowly ahead of the Soviet Union's

Liliya Nurutdinova Liliya Foatovna Nurutdinova (russian: Лилия Фоатовна Нурутдинова; born 15 December 1963) is a retired middle-distance runner who represented the Soviet Union and the Unified Team. Her greatest achievement was the 1992 Ol ...

, who ran 1:57.52. She was ranked #1 for the year for both the 400m and 800m. Quirot was unbeaten at the 800 metres for almost three years, from her fourth place at the 1987 Worlds, to the Zurich Grand Prix in August 1990, when she was third behind the East German pair of Wodars and Christine Wachtel. This lone defeat bumped her down the 3rd in the Track and Field News 800m rankings, as it was her only meeting with the two women in 1990, after having been ranked 1st in both 1988 and 1989. She did however rank #1 for the year in the 400 metres (for the 2nd and final time) in 1990, making her the only women in history thus far (as of 2017) to rank #1 in the world multiple years in both the 400m and 800m. Going in as clear favorite she settled for a silver medal at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, narrowly losing to Nurutdinova 1:57.50 to 1:57.55. The first 4 finishers were within 0.13 of a second and closely crowded in each other's paths at the end, with bronze medalist Kovacs sprawling across the line, blocking the path of 4th-place finisher Maria Mutola who may have otherwise won the race. Quirot did manage a 4–1 record vs Nurutdinova for 1991, and a clear winning record against all her main competitors (although had 5 2nd place losses to 5 different women) and regained her #1 ranking over 800 metres in the final Track and Field News yearly rankings. Prevented from competing at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games due to the Cuban boycotts, Quirot made her Olympic debut at the 1992 games in Barcelona, where she won a bronze medal in the 800 m behind

Ellen van Langen Ellen Gezina Maria van Langen (born 9 February 1966) is a Dutch former middle distance runner, who specialised in the 800 metres. A talented but injury-ridden athlete, she was the 1992 Olympic Champion for the women's 800 meters. She is now ...

and Nurutdinova. Ana had gone into the race as the gold medal favorite, with Nurutdinova tipped as her biggest rival, and

Lyubov Gurina Lyubov Mikhailovna Gurina (russian: Любовь Гурина; born 6 August 1957 in Matushkino, Kirov Oblast) is a retired middle-distance runner who represented the USSR, the Unified Team at the Olympics, Unified Team, and later Russia. Competing ...

Ella Kovacs Ella Kovacs (born 11 December 1964) is a retired Romanian middle-distance runner of Hungarian descent who specialized in the 800 metres.

, and young Maria Mutola also viewed as real contenders, but the overlooked Van Langen took victory from the favorites, slipping past a tiring Nurutdinova on the inside 50 metres from the finish. In 1993, she was involved in a domestic accident that left her seriously injured. She was pregnant at the time and gave birth to her daughter prematurely in hospital while fighting for her life. Her daughter did not survive and died a week after she was born. Quirot returned from her accident in late 1993 and won a silver medal in the Central America Games, behind the

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

athlete

Letitia Vriesde Letitia Alma Vriesde (born 5 October 1964) is a female former track and field athlete from Suriname, who specialised in the 800 metres but was also successful over 1500 metres. She is the first (and to date, only) sportsperson from Suriname to co ...

. Then in 1995, at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, she became World champion for the first time ever, defeating Vriesde and

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres and 1,500 metres events and won gold medals for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She set British ...

, who were second and third respectively. To gain victory she used a strong finishing kick to move from 5th to 1st down the stretch, something that comes largely from her background of also being a long-time top 400 metre runner. Maria Mutola was heavily favored, having been on a 3-year unbeaten streak, but stepped on a lane marker in the semis, being disqualified. Mutola would be victorious in all head-to-head encounters between her and Ana over 800 metres this year, including the season-ending grand prix final where Mutola would place 1st to Quirot's 5th. Quirot won her second Olympic medal at the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, winning silver. She went in as one of the top two favorites, along with

Maria Mutola Maria de Lurdes Mutola ( ; born 27 October 1972) is a retired female track and field athlete from Mozambique who specialised in the 800 metres running event. She is only the fourth female track and field athlete to compete at six Olympic Games. ...

, and a battle between the two greats was widely anticipated, with Kelly Holmes also considered a possible gold medal contender. She ultimately defeated both Mutola and Holmes, but ended being pipped for the gold in a major upset by

Svetlana Masterkova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Masterkova (russian: Светлана Александровна Мастеркова; born 17 January 1968) is a Russian former middle-distance runner and former women's world record holder for the mile and the current 1 ...

, who had returned to the sport in 1996, after two years away to have a baby. She was disappointed, knowing at age 33 she had likely missed her last chance of an Olympic Gold, but considered it a triumph after the adversity she had faced to get there. She blamed a poor tactical race on her defeat, and likely lost the race when she allowed Holmes to pass her on the back stretch, slipping back to 4th, rather than responding by moving onto the leader Masterkova's shoulder before the final bend. She would hand Masterkova her only defeat of the year at 800 metres a few weeks later. Track and Field News ranked her #2 for the year at 800 metres, behind Masterkova, but ahead of Mutola. In 1997, Quirot retained her World title at the 1997 World Championships in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, with

Yelena Afanasyeva Yelena Aleksandrovna Vlasova-Afanasyeva (russian: Елена Александровна Афанасьева; born March 1, 1967 in Kulebaki) is a former Russian athlete who competed in the 800 metres. Her greatest achievements include a European ...

second and Mutola third. She was named the No. 1 ranked 800m runner for the year for the 4th and final time, and her first time since 1991. She trailed her chief rival Mutola 4–3 in head-to-head meetings this year, but was ranked 1st due to winning more important encounters at the World Championship, Grand Prix Finale, and for going under 1:55 in Cologne. Quirot is one of only seven female athletes who have run under 1:55 for 800m, and was the only female to do so over a 25-year span from 1983 (Kratochvílová) to 2008 (

Pamela Jelimo Pamela Jelimo (born 5 December 1989) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, specialising in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal in 800 metres at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the age of 18. She is the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gol ...

). Her best time of 1:54.44 from 1989 ranks her fifth on the world all-time list behind Kratochvilova, Olizarenko, Jelimo and

Caster Semenya Mokgadi Caster Semenya OIB (born 7 January 1991) is a South African middle-distance runner and winner of two Olympic gold medals and three World Championships in the women's 800 metres. She first won gold at the World Championships in 2009 ...

. She also ran 1:54.82 to beat Maria Mutola in a Grand Prix race in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

in 1997. Her lifetime best for 400m is 49.61 in 1991. In her final year of 1997 she would be ranked #1 in the world over 800 metres by Track and Field News, a feat she had last managed much earlier in 1988, 1989, and 1991. Mutola won 4 of 7 encounters with Quirot that year, but Quirot had the more prestigious victories: World Championships, her sub 1:55 clocking, and the IAAF Grand Prix final.

Personal bests

Competition record

References

External links