I got involved in athletics during physical education lessons at school.

Be very strong... be very methodical in your life if you want to be a champion.

Then I received support from the Government to compete for my country, and to represent Cuba in competition.

We want to promote the great quality of athletics - and maintain it's integrity - all over the world.

The most important part of this is to prepare the athlete for life in general and then be able to compete.

In Cuba we use our champions to promote the sport.

We are just not made up to be middle distance runners.