Norberto Téllez Santana (born January 22, 1972 in

Rodas Rodas () is a municipality and town in the Cienfuegos Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1859 under the name of ''Lechuzo''. In 1879 it was renamed Rodas in honour of capitán general ''Caballero de Rodas''. Geography The municipality is divide ...

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especial ...

) is a retired

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 ...

n runner.

Career

Originally a

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

runner who also enjoyed success in

4 x 400 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, winning the silver medal at the 1992 Olympics, Téllez later converted to 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 ...

distance. At the

1996 Summer Olympics 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, ...

he ran in 1:42.85 and thereby improved the national record of

Alberto Juantorena Alberto Juantorena (born 3 December 1950) is a Cuban former runner. He is the only athlete to win both the 400 and 800 m Olympic titles, which he achieved in 1976. He was ranked as world's best runner in the 400 m in 1974 and 1976–1978, a ...

. However, this wasn't enough to secure a medal as he finished in fourth place. A silver medal from the 1997 World Championships was his best result thereafter.

Major achievements

¹Representing the Americas
²Did not finish in the semifinals

Personal bests

* 200 metres – 21.10 (1994) * 400 metres – 45.27 (1994) * 800 metres – 1:42.85 (1996)

External links

*
Picture of Norberto Téllez (right)
ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tellez, Norberto 1972 births Cuban male sprinters Cuban male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Cuba Olympic silver medalists for Cuba Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1995 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Competitors at the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games Universiade gold medalists for Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games People from Cienfuegos Province 20th-century Cuban people